Spirit of Amber
by gemstoneshaman
Summary: {{Abandoned}} Kasumi has secrets. Fate seems determined to reveal those secrets by placing her on Team 7 and gifting her with nosy teammates. Between trying to keep said teammates alive and playing tag with death, she finds herself dealing with a certain Uchiha who is quite persistent.
1. Kasumi

**Me: Welcome to my story!  
**

**Kasumi:...get on with it.**

**Me: *sulks but quickly recovers* Naruto does not belong to me!**

**Kasumi: And if you like One Piece, take a look at author-chan's other stories. Ja ne!**

**Me: Enjoy!**

* * *

**Teams**

"Next, Team 7..." Iruka read off the list blandly. "Uzumaki Naruto..."

"..." Naruto opened his eyes, his entire body language shouting defeat as his 'Sakura-chan' had already been pronounced to be on Team 3.

Sasuke rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, face perfectly stoic.

Kasumi watched calmly.

"... Uchiha Sasuke..."

"Damn..." Naruto cursed, hanging his head in despair.

Sasuke continued to rest his chin on his interlaced fingers, face perfectly stoic.

Kasumi blinked in mild surprise. Those two together?!

"And Kasumi."

Naruto's mouth snapped shut in surprise, his indignant train of thought breaking off.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

In unison, the two shot a look at the quiet girl sitting in the back corner of the room.

Kasumi looked back at them calmly, her hair up in a bun woven with green ribbons with stray pieces falling around her heart shaped face. She wore her forehead protector around her neck, a layered green blouse over black pants, a long black trench coat that fell to her knees, and shinobi boots. Her brown eyes were steady.

**Introduction**

The girl was a mystery. To most of the class, the adults, and even Iruka-sensei.

She had been introduced to the class when they were all eight.

Iruka-sensei had come into the classroom, leading her gently with his hand on her back. Surprised and curious, the students had stopped their insistent chattering for once and stared in silence at the newcomer.

In front of the class, he had stopped and turned her to face her towards her new classmates.

The academy students had seen a girl about their age turn to look at them. She had long hair the color of cream and platinum in a bun at her nape and large brown eyes flecked with dark amber. Her features were delicate and she wore a simple black shirt and black pants.

Despite the anxiety and nervousness that inevitably came with facing dozens of other children, her face was flawlessly blank.

"Class, this is Kasumi, your new classmate." Iruka-sensei had announced, giving them all a stern look. "I expect you all to welcome her warmly."

Later, the students came to know her as the quiet, polite but distant girl who sat in the darkest corner of the classroom.

**Fangirls or the SUFA  
**

Kasumi's first experience with her new classmates did not go well.

The Uchiha massacre hadn't occurred yet, and Sasuke had quite the fanbase of rabid, screeching banshees. Who knew when they were being threatened, even unknowingly.

"Hey, you!" Ami, the leader of the Sasuke Uchiha Fangirls Association or the SUFA, screeched at Kasumi as soon as Iruka left for lunch break, storming up to the new girl.

Kasumi blinked slowly and turned to face the horde of SUFA, the movement unconsciously graceful. Ami and her mob bristled at her poise. This was unacceptable!

"Yes?" She questioned softly, her voice distantly warm.

Ami scowled and pointed a finger rudely at her. "Stay away from Sasuke-kun, you hear! You're not worthy of him! He's _ours_!"

Kasumi looked at the rather loud and obnoxious girl blankly. "Who?"

Ami's scowl deepened and she narrowed her eyes, before swinging around to point at the dark-haired boy who was pointedly ignoring them. "Sasuke Uchiha!" She declared, hearts appearing briefly in her eyes that turned to daggers as soon as she turned back to Kasumi "He's ours! So don't go near him!"

Sasuke groaned and buried his face in his arms, face flushing with embarrassment.

Kasumi glanced at the boy questioningly. "Is there something wrong with him?" He seemed fine... but maybe he was sick?

A collective gasp swept through the room. Ami looked like she was about to spontaneously combust, her face turning purple. The girls of the SUFA behind her looked horrified.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

That encounter ended with the SUFA hating Kasumi, the boys in the class in awe and half in love with the one girl who did not worship Sasuke (Hinata didn't count, she worshiped _Naruto_ and that was worse), Sasuke sighing in pure relief at the knowledge that he had one less fangirl to worry about, and Kasumi wondering if her new classmates were insane.

**Choji Akimichi**

The second direct encounter that Kasumi had with her classmates was when she stood up for a kid she didn't know.

Choji was pale, rapidly munching on a bag of chips a few weeks after Kasumi's introduction. Shikamaru wasn't here today - he was sick - and he was really nervous. Shikamaru was his only friend and he was scared someone would start to pick on him.

"Hey, fatty!" A taunting voice called out. Choji flinched and turned to see a group of boys smirking at him meanly. "Keep on eating and you won't be able to walk anymore! Rolling on the floor would be more like it!" The leader said snidely and the other boys started to laugh mockingly.

Choji bit his lip, shrinking back hesitantly. He hated the teasing and the name calling. He had to deal with the bullies all the time and Shikamaru had defended him when they had become friends, but he wasn't here today. Choji missed Shikamaru.

"Aww... is the fatty upset?" The boy cooed, invoking yet more laughter from the group of kids. "Fatty, fatty, fatty!"

Choji tried to hold back the tears that sprang to his eyes. 'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry...' He wouldn't give them the satisfaction!

"Hey," A new voice cut in, distinctly feminine. The boys turned to see Kasumi standing a few feet away from them, holding her books to her chest, and frowning at them in clear disapproval.

"Hi, Kasumi-chan!" The leader of the group grinned, trying to be charming. He had liked the pretty new girl for a while now, but when he tried to talk to her, she always left in a hurry. It was almost as if she didn't like him back! Which was, of course, impossible. But today, she had talked to him on her own! This proved she did fancy him!

Her brown eyes were cold, something he didn't bother noticing. "What exactly are you guys doing?"

The idiotic boy's grin widened and he gestured to Choji who grimaced. "Oh, we were dealing with this fattso here. Nothing to worry about. He's nothing."

Kasumi's eyes focused on Choji, and he breathed in deeply to steady himself. Choji looked up, knowing that he would see contempt, but needing, _needing_ to show at least some resistance. He wasn't nothing and he knew it, even if they didn't!

To his surprise, there was only quiet kindness in her brown eyes. They were pretty, Choji thought absentmindedly through his shock. Her eyes were really pretty with all those amber flecks.

She smiled gently at him and Choji's eyes widened in confusion. Then she turned to the confused group of boys and her eyes turned cold again. "Really? Because in my opinion, this 'nothing' is worth more than all of you combined."

The lead boy gaped, eyes bugging out. "Kasumi-chan..?" No girl had _ever_ spoken to him like that!

Kasumi carried on relentlessly. "You're a bully who picks on others because of insecurity. The rest of you are sheep, without individuality and thought. You'll never receive the respect you desire with this behavior. It would be plain distasteful to compare you boys to Choji-san."

Silence reigned in the room. The boys, including Choji, had their jaws on the floor, utterly shocked. Who knew the quiet bookworm had it in her?! Firmly, she pointed at the door, voice low and firm. "Leave."

Still speechless, the group of bullies began to trickle out. Having no other choice the lead boy went, too, but not before yelling back, "Yeah, well, you're just a bitch!"

The door closed with a loud bang, the sound echoing through the now almost empty classroom.

Satisfied with her work, Kasumi turned to look at Choji and he did the same. She studied his shocked face thoughtfully for a moment before starting to walk towards the door.

As she passed him, she lightly pressed her hand on his arm. "It'll be okay." She whispered comfortingly and continued, her stride never breaking.

The door opened and closed and she was gone, leaving Choji to stare after her.

The next day, Kasumi looked up from her book to see a shyly smiling Choji in front of her desk. The boy called Shikamaru stood behind him, face bored, but black eyes firmly focused on her.

What were they doing? She was glad to see that Choji was alright, but the kids mostly ignored her. It was what she preferred; she had chosen her seat purely for that reason.

"Kasumi-chan, I, uhh, want to thank you for yesterday. No one other than Shikamaru has ever stood up for me before." Choji stuttered.

Kasumi blinked slowly and then, she smiled. Her smile lit up her face, turning her eyes into pools of melted chocolate. "You're welcome, Choji-san."

And so, Kasumi became a friend of Choji and by extension, Shikamaru.

The young Akimichi never forgot that day of simple, pure kindness. Kasumi was a good friend. Shikamaru was still his _best_ friend, but she came in a close second. Kasumi was quiet - not because she was a snob, which was what the other kids thought - but because she preferred to observe rather than talk.

Kasumi was also a bit strange, not that he minded. She loved to read and isolated herself from the world more often than not, but at the same time, she would spend hours watching the busy streets. She didn't talk to the people, oh no, she simply watched them.

Most of the time they hanged out, Shikamaru would look at the clouds, Choji would eat his potato chips, and Kasumi would read her books.

It was a quiet, peaceful time.

Choji didn't mind the silence. She never made fun of him being big-boned, nor did she attempt to force a diet on him like Ino did. She let him be himself and that was the greatest gift of all.

Yes, she did have a tendency to hoard information to herself like a dragon with gold and she could be remarkably introverted, but he didn't care.

No matter how distant or moody she became, he could always see that strange, _true_ kindness that had led her to defend a boy she had never before talked to.

**Shikamaru**

Shikamaru was surprised by very few things in his life, even as an eight year old child. But Kasumi... well, she seemed to have the horrid habit of doing exactly that.

When she had first shown up, he had opened one eye, stared at her, and promptly closed that eye, falling back to sleep. She would be another normal classmate, he assumed. Nothing to get excited about.

When she had completely dismissed Sasuke, he had opened both eyes to look at her in astonishment. Huh, he had thought. A sane girl. A not-quite-as-troublesome girl. Huh. And then he had closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Another ice queen.

When everyone else pegged her as a snob, arrogant girl who thought she was too good for their company and she didn't say anything to prove them wrong, he had listened quietly, eyes at half-mast, and wondered at them. Yeah, she was unfriendly and somewhat cold, but she wasn't arrogant. And then he had decided it was all too troublesome and dozed off.

When Choji had barged into his room with some fruit and a story about how she had defended him against some bullies that day, his eyes had flown open, and, despite his reducing-fever and laziness, he had snapped upright in his bed. What was going on here?

Kasumi was simply a normal student that had ice queen tendencies and was incredibly introverted. And yet, she had chosen to defend Choji, a boy she had never talked to, and even Shikamaru's genius mind couldn't find a deciding advantage for her to do so.

Why _had_ she done it?

The next morning, he had watched, eyes fully open and mind fully awake, as Choji thanked her. And he had realized all his assumptions were wrong.

Kasumi wasn't merely another classmate at the Academy. She wasn't an ice queen and she wasn't unfriendly and she wasn't cold. She _was_ troublesome, because she was a puzzle, a mystery, a troublesome challenge that he wanted to decipher, but knew would be a pain.

She wanted to be left alone, but she didn't mind company. She didn't like unnecessary actions and words, but she went out of her way to comfort people who needed it. She was a pretty girl, but she didn't obsess over her looks. She was a hardworker, but never worked herself to the ground. It was all so confusing.

When Choji invited her to hang out with them, he hadn't objected. She was reserved and really, the first female he had met that didn't scream at him at the drop of a pin; Hinata didn't really count, that girl couldn't _talk_ without some stuttering.

To some extent, she understood his goal of having an average life, and while it was troublesome, some of the debates she had lured him into were somewhat interesting. She didn't badger him, didn't nag him, and he found her presence undemanding, another first from the female gender.

Still, friend or not, Shikamaru was intelligent and observant. So, he knew full well that Kasumi had more than a few secrets.

Once on a warm summer day, when Choji was away working at his clan's restaurant, he had turned to her and asked, "Why don't you have a last name?"

It was an off-hand question, asked solely because he was curious and lazy and had nothing else to do. But Kasumi flinched back as if he struck her and shadows crept into her eyes like a deadly plague. Startled and worried, he had touched her thigh, muttering, "Kasumi?"

Her eyes had snapped back to his and in the instant before her barriers came down once more, he saw nightmares covered in gore and corpses sprayed with blood. And then she blinked and was back to normal. Kasumi had smiled at him and while it wasn't fake, it wasn't particularly real either.

"Bad memories." She said to him and he hadn't pushed, because that one instant had reminded him of some of the seasoned Anbu who were war veterans and for her to have it at age eight...

He didn't want to think or know what caused it.

Now, as a full-fledged nine year old, he stared at his shogi board in shock, mouth open. Kasumi had beaten him at shogi.

Beaten. Him. At. Shogi.

Yes, it had been one move before he would have checkmated her and yes, it was the first time in the ten times they had played, but she had beaten _him_ at shogi. The only one of his entire class to do so.

"Again." He demanded, looking up to meet her ever so slightly satisfied eyes.

She smiled.

Five hours later, Shikamaru's father found them still playing shogi. Shikarmaru was winning, but Kasumi was putting up quite the fight, 7 to 3.

**Shino**

Shino would be hard-pressed to say whether he was friends with Kasumi at age ten. He sat next to her at times and she sat next to him at times during lunch, but they didn't talk much. Most of the time, they would simply enjoy the silence and their meals. Neither of them liked clouding the air with meaningless words like most of their other classmates.

One day changed their relationship, if you could call it that.

"Ugh, he's so disgusting."

"Do you know he has bugs in his body?"

"Why does he wear sunglasses all the time? I bet his eyes are really ugly."

Shino never reacted to the insidious whispers, but that didn't mean he didn't hear them. He stiffened, his kikachu bugs running around nervously. He didn't desire their approval, but that didn't mean he was unaffected. In the end, Shino was still just a child, too.

"Shino-san." A familiar voice interrupted. He turned his head to see Kasumi settle down beside him, forgoing her usual spot at the back with Shikamaru and Choji, much to his surprise. She looked at him, eyes quietly intense. "Never be ashamed of who you are."

His eyes widened, but Kasumi swiftly turned back to her textbook as if nothing was out of the ordinary and said nothing more. Shino thought he might have heard... something in her voice that day, something old and deep and aged, but he was never quite sure and so, he let it go silently.

The next day, neither Shikamaru nor Choji seemed very surprised when Shino chose to sit with them during lunch.

From that day on, the two were close friends and could generally be counted on to be the restful oasis in the desert of pure noise and chaos that was the classroom. God knows, that place truly needed it.

**Hinata**

Hinata's one and only life-changing moment with Kasumi happened when they were eleven.

It was after a training session with her father and Hanabi, and she had lost track of how many bruises she had. She stumbled into the classroom stiffly, biting her lip, and hoping no one noticed how hurt she was.

To her relief, no one did. It wasn't very difficult; everyone else were still only children after all. They had better things to do than pay attention to the subtle inconsistencies of the shy, timid girl who sat in the back. No one noticed... at least not until after class.

Hinata was packing up her bags when a pale, elegant hand placed a tub of healing cream on her desk.

Startled, she looked up to see her quiet, unobtrusive classmate, Kasumi.

"K-K-Kasumi-chan?" Hinata stuttered in confusion.

Kasumi gazed at her with deep brown eyes. "You should take better care of yourself, Hinata-san."

And with that, she turned around and walked away. Hinata stared after her.

Kasumi never did anything like that again, but sometimes when Hinata was absent, she would bring Hinata her homework. Pick up her books for her if she dropped them. Acts of kindness. Small acts of kindness, yes, but no less insignificant.

They became friends of a sort, though Kasumi never did spend as much time with Hinata as she did with Shikamaru and Choji. And she didn't tell Hinata her secrets; they never shared information on boys and clothes and fashion like the other girls did.

It didn't matter to the Hyuuga Heiress. Kasumi was Kasumi and if she could accept Hinata's painfully low self-confidence and stuttering, then Hinata could accept her secrecy and the sometimes too distant look in her eyes.

**Kiba**

Kiba and Kasumi never particularly interacted with each other. Sure, Kiba was friends with Shino and Hinata and Kasumi was friends with Shino and Hinata, but they weren't friends with each other.

Kasumi considered Kiba too loud and obnoxious, and Kiba considered Kasumi too quiet and secretive. She couldn't bring herself to like the Inuzuka's dog, and he was able to pick up on that, if only subconsciously. He didn't like her bookworm tendencies, and she didn't like his specialized skills.

But they both cared about their friends and as such, had a truce of sorts. They would tolerate each other. And they did.

**Ino**

Like Kiba, Ino and Kasumi were more acquaintances than anything. Very reluctant acquaintances.

Unlike Ami, Ino was confident enough in her own looks to not be jealous of her classmate's delicate but elegant looks. Her being Shikamaru and Choji's constant companion didn't bother Ino either. Yes, her Sasuke-kun did sit next to her at times, but Ino was the daughter of a master interrogator and she knew it was completely platonic. So, Ino didn't blame Kasumi for that either. Ino was neutral on the topic of Kasumi, something quite rare for the exuberant blonde.

Kasumi simply did not care. Ino was Shikamaru and Choji's childhood friend and while she _was_ sometimes annoyed by her loud proclamations to 'her Sasuke-kun', Kasumi did not like or dislike Ino. So long as the Yamanaka made no attempt to go poking around in Kasumi's head, Ino was merely another classmate. The blonde girl was there and that was really the extent of Kasumi's interest in her.

So, at times, they met and talked through their mutual friends, but it was always a quick, polite conversation. And then, they parted ways.

**Sakura**

Sakura did not know what to make of Kasumi. Even after being the other girl's classmate for four years, she knew next to nothing about the brown-eyed girl.

Sakura knew that Kasumi was friends with Choji, Shikamaru, and Shino. She knew that Kasumi was sorta friends with Hinata and was extremely quiet most of the time. Sakura knew that Kasumi was not interested in Sasuke-kun and that was about all she knew about her longtime classmate.

In contrast, Kasumi knew significantly more information on the pink-haired girl. She knew that Sakura's biggest advantage was her mind and her biggest weakness were her actual shinobi skills. Well, that and her obsession with Sasuke. She knew Sakura's family were civilians and that Sakura and Ino were once the best of friends. Kasumi knew a lot about Sakura, but then again, _her_ strongest advantage was observation.

Kasumi despaired of ever getting along with Sakura and actually keeping her alive on missions if they were ever put in the same group.

**Naruto**

Naruto's first memory of Kasumi - he was asleep when she was introduced to the class - was at the market. He was eight and he had just been tripped purposefully by a cruel merchant.

He slammed into the ground. Hard. His food - all payed at triple the price they should have been - splattered all over the ground, mixing in with the dirt.

In the distance, he could hear that snide old merchant laughing. The young boy grit his teeth and tried to get up, fighting against the tears.

A small, feminine hand offered itself to him. Stunned, he looked up to see a young girl around his age with warm brown eyes and long, almost white hair. She looked back at him steadily, her hand never wavering.

Naruto hesitated. What if this was a trap? But the small spark of hope in his heart couldn't be extinguished, and he found himself grabbing that small hand.

To his surprise and growing hope, the little girl didn't snatch her hand back or do some other mean thing. She gently pulled him to his feet and started to gather his food back into his bag.

Naruto watched with wide eyes, rubbing away his tears with one childish fist. Done, the little girl handing him his bag and looked thoughtfully into his eyes.

"What's your name?" She asked, her voice soft and warm.

He stared at her, unable to think of doing anything else. "U-Uzumaki Naruto."

She smiled, warm and sweet. "My name is Kasumi. Take care of yourself, Naruto-san."

And then she was moving through the crowd of people in the market and disappeared entirely, her little body swallowed up by the horde.

Little Naruto stared after her, still rubbing the tears from his eyes. 'So nice...' Was his only thought.

Later, Naruto found out she was in his class. He was overjoyed, of course.

Kasumi and Naruto became friends quickly. It was only that they weren't that close. Naruto had his pranks and his rivalry with Sasuke and his crush on Sakura, and Kasumi simply didn't consider those two friends. Kasumi had her work and Shikamaru and Choji and Shino, and Naruto liked them all, but he got along with Kiba better.

They were friends. But they weren't best friends.

That would change very, very soon.

**Sasuke**

Sasuke and Kasumi had a complicated relationship. If you could call it that.

His first impression of her was another fangirl. Practically every girl in his class was a fangirl; why would she be different? He had not been happy. Didn't he have enough? They were all useless, giggling girls.

When she had been confronted by his vicious mob of fangirls and declared to the entire class that she had absolutely no interest in Uchiha Sasuke, he had been confounded. A girl who didn't want to chase after him with shrieks that hurt his ears? His confusion had quickly been followed by relief. Finally! Someone sane that happened to belong in the female gender. He would have counted Hinata as sane, but she liked _Naruto_. Enough said.

Sasuke would have been a bit interested in who the new girl was, but then, that Man had struck. Had killed off their entire clan and destroyed the very foundations of Sasuke's life. Kasumi had been utterly wiped from his mind. Who cared about her? He had to get vengeance for his clan!

The next time he had thought about her was when he had almost bumped into her. It was five months after the Uchiha Massacre and the SUFA apparently thought he wanted a wife. He didn't.

He had been running onto the roof and had rounded a corner when the small brown-eyed girl appeared. Her eyes widened upon seeing him and so did his. At the last second, he served left and she served right and they managed to avoid colliding head-on.

With the cries of the fangirls _right_ behind him as motivation, Sasuke rapidly righted himself and sprinted onwards, not sparing a second to apologize to the clearly startled girl. Spotting a tree, he hurriedly climbed it and hid himself in the branches. Settling down at least, he turned to see the girl he had almost bumped into slowly join Shikamaru and Choji. The Nara heir was cloud-watching and the Akimichi heir was eating. Again.

He scoffed inwardly. Those two would obviously never amount to anything. _He_ trained when he had free time. And then he abruptly abandoned that train of thought as a dozen shrieking fangirls stormed onto the previously quiet rooftop.

Sasuke saw Choji wince and heard Shikamaru groan and mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, "Troublesome."

The girl sighed and this, at least, he could relate to. Fangirls would have been the stuff of his nightmares, if he didn't dream about blood and spinning Mangekyo eyes.

Frowning, Ino marched up to the trio. "Where's Sasuke-kun?!" She demanded, hands on hips.

Shikamaru blew out a breath and opened his eyes. His eyes briefly flickered to Sasuke's hiding spot and Sasuke tensed, cursing the lazy guy with every curse word he knew. Shikamaru was too lazy not to give up Sasuke's hiding spot.

Before Shikamaru could answer, the girl with the green ribbons spoke up to everyone's surprise. "He went that way," She said, pointing to her right. The opposite direction of where Sasuke currently was.

Sasuke blinked. She was defending him? When he had almost knocked her down and didn't even apologize afterwards? What was she planning?

Ino was confused by Kasumi's answer too. It seemed too fake to be true, but why would Kasumi lie? She plainly didn't like Sasuke. "That way, Kasumi?" She repeated, gesturing to the direction the other girl was pointing to.

Oh. Right. Sasuke finally remembered who the girl was. She was that girl that had showed up a few months ago. She was also, he realized to his relief, that girl who had not shown an interest in him. Not once.

Kasumi nodded calmly. Ino frowned and glanced at Choji and Shikamaru for confirmation.

Choji grimaced, but said, "Yeah, he went that way."

Shikamaru closed his eyes, but didn't bother refuting Kasumi's lie. He wanted the girls gone from their rooftop, too.

Ino hesitated, but went along with it. She couldn't exactly accuse all three of them of lying. Within three minutes, all of the fangirls were gone. A wry smile quirked Kasumi's lips and she looked up at Sasuke's tree. "You can come down now, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke hesitated, but the tree was really uncomfortable and what was the harm? He jumped down, making a note that he should practice his landings more when the impact hurt his legs. Out of pure curiosity, he walked over to Kasumi. "Why did you lie for me?"

She tilted her head to the side, both of them well aware Choji and Shikamaru were closely watching their exchange. "Would you prefer me not lying next time?"

Sasuke shuddered despite himself. "No. But I want to know why."

Kasumi considered. Decided, "I wouldn't wish that many fangirls on my worst enemy."

"Oh." Sasuke faltered, not sure what to do now. If he left, his fangirls would catch him, no doubt. He wasn't sure he would survive an encounter like that. But if he stayed...

"Tomato?" Kasumi offered, holding off the juicy, red fruit that just so happened to be Sasuke's favorite.

Sasuke ended up staying. For years afterward, he would wonder suspiciously if the girl had known his favorite food was tomato. At that time, he had thought there had been no way. As time had passed and he became more familiar with her, that likelihood increased steadily, to his discomfort.

That encounter did, by no means, make them friends. But sometimes, when the fangirls grew too loud and obnoxious and terrifying, Sasuke found himself sitting next to the quiet girl. Each time, she would glance up from whatever book she happened to be reading at the time - and she was _always_ reading - accept his presence easily, and give him a greeting nod or a small smile.

They spent those days in silence and it was a wonderful, relaxing retreat from the shrill voices of the SUFA. The fangirls were always too wary of the girl to try and intrude on her space, especially since Shino normally sat on her other side. Sasuke didn't mind the Aburame boy; he was quiet enough that Sasuke could forget that he existed.

At twelve years old, Sasuke normally focused on his training, but when he did ponder the strange girl, he couldn't make up his mind about her. Kasumi was tranquil and collected, but she was no pushover. She was one of the kindest people he knew, yet her eyes were the most like his in their innocent classroom. Maybe even harder and colder.

Sasuke didn't ask because it wasn't his business, but he wasn't stupid: Kasumi hide secrets behind her placid exterior.

Now, she was his new teammate. Inwardly, he was jumping up and down in celebration. He didn't get a damn fangirl!

Out of all of his classmates, Sasuke thought that she was the one he probably would be able to tolerate the most.

Naruto... was Naruto.

She wasn't as strong as Sasuke was, naturally, but she wasn't weak like the rest of the girls in his class. She wasn't a dobe and a fangirl moreover and that was really all he could ask.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder if her secrets would remain secrets for long.

**Decisions**

The silence was broken by Naruto, as usual, who jumped up and pumped both fists into the air. "Yatta! Kasumi-chan is going to be on my team!"

Sasuke scoffed contemptuously and turned back to face the front.

"But, wait!" Naruto scowled and suddenly pointed a finger at Sasuke. "Iruka-sensei! Why does an outstanding ninja like me have to be on the same team as that bum?!"

Iruka's eye twitched and he put his hands on his hips. "Sasuke's grades were first among all 27 graduates.. Naruto, you were deadlast. We have to do this to balance the teams, understand?"

"Bah." Sasuke said. "Just don't get in my way... deadlast..."

Naruto gritted his teeth, starting to shake in anger. "What did you call me?!"

"Give it a rest, Naruto!" Sakura, who had been sulking at not being on the same team with her Sasuke-kun, blew up.

Iruka sighed. 'Well... this should work out... Even with Naruto...' He thought to himself as he watched Sakura launch a painful-looking attack on Naruto.

In the back, Kasumi sighed. "Shikamaru-san?"

He cracked open an eye. "What?"

"This is so troublesome." She stated, closing her eyes in despair.

Shikamaru and Choji chuckled.

* * *

**Review! Please, please review! Oh and notice: my other chapter probably won't be this long...  
**

**Thnxs to my betas!**


	2. Genin

**Me: Naruto does not belong to mwah!**

**Naruto: Like yeah! I belong to myself, believe it!**

**Me:...so arrogant...**

**Naruto: What? That's not being arrogant! *sticks out his tongue***

**Me: You're right.**

**Naruto: Ha! **

**Me: That's being childish.**

**Naruto: ...O.O**

**Sasuke: *pops out of thin air* Dobe.**

**Naruto: What did you say?!**

**Kasumi: Now, now boys. We have a storyline to get to.**

**Naruto and Sasuke: *glares at each other***

**Kasumi: *sighs***

**Hinata18809: Thank you, thank you, thank you for being to first to review! Hope it doesn't disappoint~**

**Rosy Fire: Probably because Sasuke had been a bit of a jerk. But don't worry! We'll get him on the straight and true path even if we have to kill him! Wait. It's probably not a good idea to kill one of the main characters...**

**Anyways, thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

**Late**

Several hours later...

Naruto peeked out the doorway, eyes squinted.

Sasuke's 'cool' position on his desk hadn't changed and Kasumi turned a page in the book she had procured out of nowhere nonchalantly.

"Why is our Team 7 sensei," Naruto demanded, looking back at them, "so damn late?!"

"I've heard that most successful ninjas have some quirk or two..." Kasumi speculated, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I guess it's just our luck that we ended up with a sensei that's late. Hopefully, it isn't a habit."

She had no idea how right she was.

A noise caught her attention and she looked up. Blinked. "Naruto-san... what are you doing?" She asked, slowly. He wouldn't...

Sasuke glanced over and blinked as well.

"Hi hi hi hi," Naruto giggled mischievously as he reached up to jam an eraser into the door. He hopped off the chair, "That's what you get for being late!"

He would.

Kasumi sweatdropped and shook her head, but didn't bother scolding him. She had the feeling he wouldn't listen anyways. When it came to pranks, Naruto was as stubborn as a mule.

Sasuke scoffed. "Like a jounin would fall for such a stupid booty trap."

A gloved hand pulled at the door and all three of them went silent, holding their breaths in anticipation.

A tall man with silver, gravity defying hair stepped through the door and the eraser fell right on his hair, releasing a cloud of chalk dust to his 'surprise'.

Perfect hit. Err... prank.

"Whahahahaha," Naruto laughed, pointing at him. "You fell for it, you fell for it!"

'Is this really a jounin?' Sasuke thought doubtfully. 'He doesn't seem very reliable...'

Meanwhile, Kasumi frowned a bit after she had gotten over her shock. 'I think I've seen a picture of that man somewhere...' And that meant he was someone important. Well, she _was_ on a team with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. She grimaced, her shoulders slumping slightly. She had expected her genin years to be relaxing, but somehow, she was doubting it.

"Hmmm... How can I say this...?" Kakashi contemplated, rubbing his chin. "My first impression is... I don't like you guys."

"..."

"..."

"..."

**Introductions**

"Well, let's begin with introducing yourselves." Their sensei said cheerfully.

"... What would you like to know?" Kasumi asked politely, sitting in the middle of Sasuke and Naruto. She _had_ purposefully chosen that spot so there would hopefully be less hostility. She had her doubts as to whether it would work;the power of their 'friendly' rivalry was a thing to behold.

"How about your likes, dislikes... your dreams for the future and things like that." He shrugged disinterestedly.

"You first, sensei." Kasumi nodded at him.

"Yeah, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?!" Naruto snapped, rather abrasively. She withheld a wince, already foreseeing the headache she was going to be having when she got to the task of teaching the blonde manners. Which he would have to learn, of course, if he wanted to survive her brother.

Troublesome, indeed.

"Oh... me? Well... my name is Hatake Kakashi... I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes... Dreams for the future... hmmm... And I have lots of hobbies." He managed to keep a straight face.

'... all he told us... was his name.' Naruto and Sasuke thought, deadpanning.

Kasumi narrowed her eyes, having blocked out everything after hearing his name. 'That's it, I _know_ I've heard that name before!' Now, she just had to figure out where. Easier said than done considering the amount of books she had read over the years...

"Well, it's your turn, let's start off on the right," He gestured to Naruto.

"Yosh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, what I like is cup ramen, what I like even more is when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen, what I dislike is waiting 3 minutes for the ramen to cook..." Naruto grinned sunnily. "And my dream..."

'Does he only think about ramen?' Kakashi thought incredulously to himself.

"... is to surpass the Hokage and then have the people of this village acknowledge my existence." Pure determination shone in his cerulean blue eyes.

Kakashi's eye widened. 'He's grown in an interesting way.'

Kasumi tilted her head thoughtfully, not particularly concerned with Naruto's introduction as she had been the blonde's classmate for years and his friend for almost the same amount of time. She had heard it all before, but the last one... 'So... he really is the...'

"Hobbies... pranks, I guess." Naruto finished lamely.

'I see.' Kakashi scratched at his hair. "Next." He directed his attention to his only female student. 'She's the one from that clan...' He also noticed that both Naruto _and _Sasuke quickly focused all of their attention on her. 'Interesting... both of the boys seem rather curious about her... Do they not know anything about her even though they're her classmates?' That spoke badly of their observation skills or well of her stealth skills. Possibly both.

"My name is Kasumi," She stated quietly, not bothering to offer a family name. "I like shogi. I dislike selfish people and cowards. My hobbies are reading and training. And my dream is to become a member of the intelligence division."

'Intelligence division, huh? At least she's not a fangirl.' Kakashi reflected.

'Kasumi-chan is so awesome...' Naruto thought in awe.

'Not bad...' Sasuke admitted grudgingly. Certainly better than one of the SUFA. He shuddered inwardly at the thought of the screeching banshees. To make it even worse, they were as worthless and weak as they were persistent and logic-defying.

"Okay and finally the broody one." Kakashi gestured to the Uchiha.

Sasuke shot a glare at him in response to the nickname that was happily ignored. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of thing I dislike and I don't really like anything and... I can't really call it a dream... but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a man."

'He better not mean me...' Naruto sweated nervously.

'...not again! Why can't they just-' Kasumi pushed down the flare of anger and distress and discretely took deep breaths. In, out. In, out. 'Don't think about it, don't think of it, don't think about it...'

'Like I thought...' Kakashi sighed.

"OK! So far for the introductions, tomorrow we'll start our duties as shinobi." Kakashi announced carefreely.

"Yeah! What kind of duties?!" Naruto saluted in excitement. "Duties! Duties!"

"First, we are going to do something with just the four of us..." He started.

"What is it? What is it?" Naruto was going to jump out of his skin if he kept on doing that, Kasumi thought absently.

"Survival training." He replied bluntly.

"Survival training...?" Naruto repeated questioningly.

"..." Kasumi and Sasuke kept quiet. Sasuke because it was habit, Kasumi because she preferred to listen rather than question.

"This won't being a normal training like the ones you had in the Academy." Kakashi explained. "This time, I'll be your opponent."

'...that's impossible.' Kasumi thought candidly. 'No three genins would ever be able to defeat a junin. Especially not ones fresh out of the Academy.' The brown-eyed girl despised those who could not face reality and was well aware of her own limitations.

"Then! Then! What is it?" Naruto was confused. Hilariously so.

"He he he," Kakashi lowered his head, laughing in a rather disturbing fashion.

'...Oh, dear.' Kasumi furrowed her brow. 'That's classically not a good sign.' It spoke of either a master evil plan or mental instability. She wasn't sure which one she wanted.

"What's so funny?" Naruto scowled.

"Uhm... well... it's just that what I tell you this, you guys are totally going to freak out." He eye-smiled happily.

"Freak out? Ha?" Naruto squinted.

"Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen to become genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This training is a very difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66%." Kakashi gave them a creepy stare.

Naruto's eyes bulged out and his jaw dropped.

A bead of sweat rolled down Sasuke's cheek.

"Ha ha!" Kakashi laughed. "I knew you would freak out!"

But... Kasumi..."Only 66%?" She responded skeptically, not in the least frightened.

Both of her teammates whirled around to stare at her, 'Is she really not scared?'

The scarecrow stopped laughing to look intently at the girl. 'Why isn't she... ah. Right, she's from that place...'

"Yup! 66%" He eye-smiled at her.

"Oh. Alright, then." And she shrugged and leaned back against the steps. She had faith in her skills and abilities.

Naruto wasn't that unconcerned. "What? No way! But we worked so hard... what was the point of graduating?"

"Oh... that? That was just to select those who have a change at becoming genin." Kakashi replied casually.

"Uhh... what?!" Naruto shouted.

"...Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skills on the training ground. Bring all the shinobi tools you have.. oh.. and I suggest you skip breakfast, you might throw up."

Naruto was shaking, Kasumi noticed sympathetically. She supposed she should be frightened as well, but this really was _nothing_ compared to her birth village.

"The details are on this paper and don't be late tomorrow!" Kakashi handed them each a piece of paper and a 'Ja ne!' and was gone.

"..."

"..."

"..."

They stared after him blankly. The silence was broken when Sasuke hmphed and got up to leave.

"Sasuke-san, wait." Kasumi called out politely. Sasuke paused to give her a cold look. She smiled sweetly back, not disturbed at all. "How would you like some information on our new sensei before tomorrow's test?"

He narrowed his dark eyes.

**Persuasion**

"Ehh? You want to know stuff about Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto scratched his head in confusion.

Kasumi had led the three to a calming park a few minutes away from the bustling streets. Somehow, she had gotten the three of them to sit in a circle as well.

She nodded. "If we're going to be participating in a fight against him tomorrow, it's best if we know as much about him as we can."

"But, Kasumi-chan! Why?! It'll be the same anyways!" Naruto whined. He would much rather be training or counting his shinobi tools right now! Reluctantly, Sasuke was in agreement, not that he would admit it.

The girl smiled patiently at him. After all these years, she knew how to handle the hyperactive boy. "It does make a difference, Naruto-san. Say you're faced with an opponent. What would you do?"

"Attack him!" Naruto replied immediately, mimicking throwing a punch.

Kasumi nodded approvingly. "Yes, but what if you knew that his dominant side was his right side and not his left?"

"... I would attack him from the left." Naruto said slowly, a light bulb flaring over his head.

She smiled coyly. "So you see, information does make a difference."

"Yosh!" Without warning, Naruto enthusiastically pumped a fist in the air. "You're right! Let's figure out all Kakashi-sensei's dirty secrets!"

She sweatdropped, but decided that would be all the progress she could get today. Naruto tended to have limitations when it came to academics.

"Hn. I don't see why I have to bother. He fell for Naruto's idiotic trick." Sasuke spoke up condescendingly. Naruto bristled, but Kasumi held up a hand before he could retort.

Kasumi looked at her dark-haired teammate with genuine curiosity. "Do you really believe that, Sasuke-san?"

He frowned at her. "Why wouldn't I?"

"...you are the last Uchiha in Konoha." She pointed out shrewdly. "Even if the Hokage doesn't want favoritism, the Council would never assign you a dead-beat sensei. You _are_ the shiny toy they want to show off as soon as possible."

Naruto couldn't take it. "That's not fair! Why does he get special treatment?!"

Kasumi patted his arm in comfort. "Don't worry about it, Naruto-san. Think about it this way: as his teammates, that means we automatically get special treatment, too."

Naruto thought about that, decided he liked it. He had never gotten special treatment before. Well... not the good kind.

Sasuke considered her argument for a moment. "But, by that train of thought, I will definitely pass this test."

Kasumi thought about that. "True." She admitted easily.

Sasuke smirked and got up. There was no more reason for him to stay with the worthless losers.

"But, Kasumi-chan!" Naruto protested, upset that his friend had given up without a true fight.

"It's okay, Naruto-san." She assured the blonde boy, her voice purposefully loud enough that the Uchiha walking away from them could hear. "We don't need his help. Besides, if Sasuke-san wants to spend his time as a genin with one of his fangirls, that's his choice."

Sasuke stopped dead.

Pretending not to notice, Kasumi went on, winking conspiratorially at Naruto. "After all, if we don't pass... well, he does have a lot of girls entirely willing to be put on a team with him. I'm sure they'll be ecstatic to know Sasuke Uchiha has two open spots on his team."

Sasuke twitched.

Catching on, Naruto smiled a foxy smile. "You're totally right, Kasumi-chan. They'll probably be really happy to know they can stalk him even more!"

Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. More stalking?

"And I'm sure there will be a lot of hugging." Kasumi added on slyly. "And... perhaps, some kissing. Maybe some kidnapp-"

Sasuke whirled right around and took back his seat, glaring murderously. "What's your damn plan?!" He all but growled.

Kasumi smiled serenely.

**Bingo**

"So, it's this building?" Naruto asked.

"Mm-hm." Kasumi confirmed.

The three newly made genins were crouching on a rooftop, staring at a small inconspicuous shop suspiciously close to the Jounin Standby Station.

"This store sells is the one that sells Bingo Books." She murmured to her teammates.

"What's that again?" Naruto smiled embarrassingly.

"Hn. Dobe. She's already explained two times." Sasuke scorned.

"Why you...!" Naruto started, glaring at the Uchiha.

"Boys!" Kasumi intervened sharply, frowning at the two. "We cannot attract attention here." Hords of jounins would be on them in seconds.

"Sorry, Kasumi-chan." Naruto apologized sheepishly.

Sasuke just curled his lip and turned away.

Ignoring her teammate's behavior, Kasumi looked at Naruto. "Bingo Books are black books that contain information on powerful ninja, Naruto-san. Most of the time, they are only owned by Jounin and Anbu which is why we are not just walking into that store and buying one."

"Oh. Are we going to get into trouble for this?" He asked curiously. He wasn't scared, but wanted to know the stakes.

Sasuke, too, looked at the girl questioningly.

Kasumi considered. "Probably not. This is a shinobi village; we are expected and even encouraged to think sneakily. At the most, maybe a lecture from Kakashi-sensei or the Hokage."

"Okay!" Naruto agreed unhesitatingly. It wasn't like he hadn't experienced that before.

Kasumi looked at Sasuke who scowled, but nodded.

Satisfied, the cream-haired girl went on to explain the plan. "Okay, so, Naruto-san, you're going to cause a small commotion near the shop, alright? When the shop owner comes out to investigate, I'll stall him and Sasuke-san will slip inside. And this is why we're lucky."

"What?" Naruto scrunched his eyes in confusion.

She grinned craftily. "The shop owner's daughter happens to be one of Sasuke-san's fangirls."

Naruto gaped at her and even Sasuke seemed surprised.

"Y-you..." Naruto gasped in delight. "You're so smart, Kasumi-chan!"

"Why, thank you, Naruto-san." She replied sweetly.

"You planned this from the beginning." Sasuke accused, his respect for the girl increasing despite his annoyance. "Don't need my help, my ass."

Kasumi widened her eyes in faux innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about, Sasuke-san. Everyone ready?"

Affirmatives all around.

The plan went off without a hitch to their surprise. Naruto set off a small explosion ten feet away from the store with a flash bomb for extra security. He made certain that it was large enough to attract attention, but small enough that it wouldn't cause any actual damage. And then he hightailed away, as he had a lot of practice doing. His prank experience certainly did help.

The store owner came out to see what the commotion was around and Kasumi 'bumped' into him, wailing that she had lost her glasses somewhere. While the man was preoccupied with helping the obviously blind girl find her glasses, Sasuke slipped into the shop.

Quickly finding a bingo book, he walked to the counter where the cashier was all but ready to faint. One compliment on her hair and he was walking quickly out of the store with a bingo book in a bag. In the background, the cashier had finally fallen to the ground in a swoon.

A minute later, the blind girl 'found' her glasses - henged from a nearby rock - and happily thanked the store owner before sprinting off for her 'late appointment'.

As they say: Bingo.

**Observers**

In his office, Sarutobi and Kakashi watched the scene through the Hokage's crystal orb with raised eyebrows.

"What do you think?" The Hokage asked.

"... If Kasumi can keep the two boys working together, they might just pass my test tomorrow." Kakashi admitted. "I didn't expect them to work together at all, much less be so bold."

The old man chuckled. "Yes, she is quite exceptional, isn't she? A few more adjustments and some experience and Ibiki'll have a field day with her."

Kakashi hummed noncommittally. "Maybe."

**Copy Cat**

The three gathered together back at the park.

"We did it!" Naruto crowed, his grin outshining the sun.

Kasumi laughed breathlessly and even Sasuke's eyes were sparking with adrenaline. Wordlessly, she held out a hand for the book and he handed it over to her.

She flipped quickly through the book and sighed. "This'll take a while," She warned, calculating how much she would have to spend going through the book.

"Eh?!"

45 minutes later, both of the boys were growing restless.

"Kasumi-chan! When are you going to be done?!" Naruto complained, thudding a fist to the ground.

"Patience, Naruto-san. Patience." She said, eyes scanning the pages carefully.

He grumbled and Sasuke rolled his eyes, so neither of them caught the slight widening of Kasumi's eyes when she turned the page.

She paused. "Why don't you guys spar? It'll be good practice for tomorrow."

Normally, Sasuke would have rejected the idea outright and Naruto would have protested, but both of them were _bored_ out of their minds. So with only a small amount of insults, they got up and went over to the fields beside the park.

"No ninjutsu!" Kasumi ruled firmly. They did not need the place burned down; she did not want a jounin to show up and see a genin with an unauthorized bingo book. "Stick to taijutsu for now."

"Okay!"

"Fine."

And the two boys began to fight.

Kasumi discreetly tore a page out of the book and folded it neatly. Stuffing it into her pocket, she turned the pages until she found a familiar silver-haired jounin. Rapidly reading it over, she concluded that she had been right in the Council giving the great Uchiha Sasuke a special sensei. Putting the book down with a sigh, she leaned back and studied her teammates.

Sasuke was definitely strong. She didn't like his arrogance, but conceded that he did have some claim to it. He was fast and he hit quickly. The style he used was unfamiliar to her; it was probably his Clan's. His style was polished and structured.

In comparison, Naruto's taijustu was sloppy and weak. There were _a lot_ of holes in his stance and his reactions were slow. But he was unpredictable and some of the moves he used were plain genius. With some help, he could become devastating.

In no time at all, Sasuke had pinned Naruto down and had a kunai to his throat.

"Sasuke-san wins." Kasumi judged flatly. "Break it up, guys."

Obligingly, Sasuke let Naruto up with a smirk and the blonde glowered at him, but made no move to attack him again.

Wanting to break the tension, she called out, "Found Kakashi-sensei."

Predictably, that got their attention and snapped Naruto out of his gloom.

"Really?!" He bounded over, Sasuke following at a more sedate pace.

In response, she gestured to the book. The boys speedily pounced on it.

As they read, Kasumi saw the confusion in Naruto's eyes and the tightening of Sasuke's jaw.

"Copy Cat Kakashi... Kakashi of the Sha-rin-gan." Naruto read slowly. "What's a sha-rin-gan?"

"Sharingan." Kasumi corrected gently. "And I think that's a question Sasuke-san would be able to answer more accuretly."

Naruto frowned and turned to look at his rival, only for a double-take at his expression. "... Teme? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Sasuke stared at the bingo book, completely bemused. "How... does Kakashi have the Sharingan? He's not... apart of the clan..."

"Oi! Teme! What are you rambling on about?!" Naruto demanded loudly.

The noise seemed to snap Sasuke out if it. "The Sharingan... is a bloodline of the Uchiha clan." He explained impatiently. "Why the hell does Kakashi have it?"

"Not sure," Kasumi murmured. "But it's probably his left eye, the one covered by his forehead protector."

There was a brief silence as they mulled over that.

"There's no way we can defeat him." Kasumi said abruptly. "He's an A-class ninja with years of experience and he was originally in Anbu. If we fight him head-on, we'll be decimated in seconds."

Naruto frowned. "We can't just give up!" He argued with utmost conviction.

"No." She rose to her feet gracefully. "We'll try anyways, of course. It's getting late and we should all get a good night's sleep. Remember to eat a good breakfast tomorrow."

"But Kakashi-sensei said we shouldn't!" Naruto recalled.

"No, he suggested we not. How do you expect to fight against a jounin on a hungry stomach?" Kasumi inquired pointedly.

"Oh, right... wait! That bastard purposefully set us up to fail!" Naruto ranted, jumping up in anger.

Sasuke furrowed his brow, annoyed at the deception as well.

Kasumi shook her head. "See you guys tomorrow morning." With one last smile, she turned to go home, scooping up the bingo book in the process.

"Yeah! See you Kasumi-chan!" Naruto waved cheerfully

"Hn." Sasuke was already walking away.

Kasumi sighed. Was it possible for this team to get more dysfunctional? Probably.

**Impossible  
**

Kasumi opened the door to her home quietly. "I'm home." She called out softly.

"Kasumi-chan!" In a flash, her older brother, Hiroshi, was at the door, pulling her into an affectionate hug. "How did your first day as a genin go?"

She smiled, returning the hug. "A bit exasperatingly, to be honest."

"Oh?" He pulled back, ruffled her hair, and dragged her to the dining room. "I made dinner, by the way."

"Thanks, onii-san." She sat down tiredly. "I got Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke on my team with our sensei as Hatake Kakashi."

Hiroshi stared at her. One. Two. Three. He broke down, laughing helplessly until he was pounding his fist on the ground. Kasumi waited him out, an irk mark appearing on her forehead.

"It isn't that funny, onii-san." She said, irritated. If anything, this only made him laugh harder.

Finally, he pulled himself together, wiping away some tears off with his thumb. "Sorry, Kasumi-chan." He got out, still chuckling. "It's just... that team sounds so... impossible."

Kasumi glared at him. "I'm on that team!"

"I know, I know, honey." Snickering under his breath, he placed the plates on the table. "I'm sure it'll work out... somehow."

She sighed in resignation and started to eat her dinner. Still, her brother was a jounin... "Do you know anything about Kakashi-sensei, onii-san?"

Hiroshi paused thoughtfully. "Not really. But... I have heard that he's never passed a team before."

Kasumi groaned and let her head thump on the table. Wonderful. This would turn out _so_ well.

**Obsession**

Later that night, as she was getting ready to go to sleep, Kasumi slipped out the page of the Bingo Book she had ripped out.

She stared at it for a moment and then reached for a match. Lighting it with a crackle, she placed the paper in the sink and lit it on fire.

Silently, Kasumi watched it burn until there was nothing left.

I may not be able to stop him, she thought fiercely. But I won't encourage his obsession.

Decisively, she turned on the faucet and let the ashes of the page on Uchiha Itachi flow down the drain.

* * *

**Review! Please, please, please review! Reviews are my soul-food! I need them!  
**

**Ah and does anyone want to be my beta for the story? All my betas are in hibernation right now. I think school and work is just burying them somewhere. Please PM if you are willing!  
**


	3. Test

**Me: Hiya everybody!**

**Sasuke:...**

**Naruto: Get on with it, author! I need to become Hokage! Believe it!**

**Kasumi:...Author-chan does not own Naruto. There. Now, story line please.**

**Me: *sobs* Everyone's so mean to me...**

**Hinata18809: Thank you! I'll try!**

**Myki Fri: Why, thank you! Hope I don't disappoint!**

**The Ninja from Yesterday: XD**

**Guest: I am so sorry for the mistake! I didn't mean to insult the Japanese language or anything. I've already corrected it and again, forgive me!**

* * *

**Preparations**

Kasumi walked slowly up the hill they were supposed to be meeting at, spotting Sasuke and Naruto arriving at the same time she did.

"Good morning." She greeted softly, eyelids heavy.

"Hey..." Naruto trailed off with a yawn.

Sasuke said nothing to nobody's surprise.

"Everyone eat breakfast?" Kasumi sat down on the grass, grateful for a chance to rest. Getting up at 4:30 AM was not her idea of a good start to the day. She liked her beauty sleep, thank you very much.

"Yup! Ramen..." Naruto drooled, his inner chibi dancing around with bowls of ramen.

"Hn. Tomatoes." Sasuke said blandly.

Kasumi sweatdropped a bit, but let it go. "Alright. I suppose we should become more familiar with each other's fighting styles if we're to pass this test." She covered a yawn.

Naruto blinked sleepily and Sasuke frowned minutely.

"Fighting.. style..?" Naruto repeated.

"Mhm. Like jutsus or ways of combat." She explained, surprised they didn't know. Had no one ever told them? Then again, her private education had been rather... unorthodox.

"Oh." A pause. "Okay."

Kasumi looked at Sasuke questioningly and he grunted. She took that to mean affirmative.

"I've go first then." She leaned back against her pack. "I know several jutsu. Reasonably proficient at academy jutsus and taijutsu. I do know some genjutsu, but using it in combat is beyond my skill level right now."

Naruto stared at her in awe and Sasuke stared at her with narrowed eyes.

"Kasumi-chan, that's so awesome!" Naruto gaped, eyes wide.

Kasumi smiled languidly in response, mind still fuzzy, and gestured for Naruto to go.

"Ah. I'm sorta good at taijutsu, but my genjutsu sucks." The blonde admitted, scratching his head sheepishly before visibly brightening. "But I do know a really cool jutsu!"

"Hn. Like you could do a decent jutsu, dobe." Sasuke said snidely.

"Shut up! I can too do an awesome jutsu!" Naruto declared, jumping out to point a determined finger towards the indifferent Uchiha.

"Calm down, you two." Kasumi intercepted lazily. It was too damn early for this. "What jutsu can you do, Naruto-san?"

He grinned smugly. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "Oh?" Since when had this development occured? And why hadn't she known? Was this how Naruto had passed the graduation exam?

"Yeah!" He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

She hummed thoughtfully. "How many can you do, Naruto-san?" She knew the basics of a clone technique, but her brother had once explained shadow clone to her...

"Eeh? I don't know." Really? It should have been easy enough to count, he was just a genin after all. "Maybe... four hundred?"

...four... hundred...?

"You made several HUNDRED?!" Kasumi demanded, bolting upright in shock. How the hell was he not dead or a vegetable?!

Naruto looked curiously at her, not understanding what the problem was. Sasuke frowned. He didn't get what the problem was either, but it was the first time he had seen the girl so rattled.

"Yeah. Something wrong, Kasumi-chan?" Naruto asked, eyes wide and concerned.

Kasumi shook her head and closed her eyes, leaning back against her pack once more to better absorb the information. God, she had known Naruto had an immense amount of chakra, but to create _that_ many shadow clones? He must have jounin reserves, she thought in dawning understanding. Maybe even Kage's. Although since he was _that_, maybe it was expected...

She took a moment to consider that, before forcibly shoving her shock into a dark corner. Okay. Okay, she could use this to her advantage. Her mind spun, calculating the advantages and disadvantages of Naruto's vast amount of chakra. He could be a jutsu powerhouse, but chakra control... would be a large issue. Best to get started early. He would not suffer from chakra exhaustion easily, but would most likely have trouble with the limits of his physical body...

When Kasumi opened her eyes again, both of her teammates were staring at her. Naruto was worried, a little bothered that whatever he had said might have upset her. Sasuke was eying her shrewdly. Assessing her reaction and knowledge, she assumed. She didn't mind; she did the same thing herself all the time. It was just that no one else realized it.

"I'm okay, Naruto-san. It just surprised me, that's all," She reassured the blonde. "Your turn, Sasuke-san."

The Ice Prince frowned, but said, "I'm good at taijutsu. I know how to release genjutsu, but I don't know any. I am well-versed in the academy jutsus and I can use the Great Fireball Technique."

Kasumi raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. That'll be useful later on."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, not sure whether to be smug at her compliment or suspicious of her following sentence. "Useful?"

She nodded. "I know the Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. If we were to use that in conjunction..."

"It would become a much stronger attack." Sasuke realized, eyes widening. Wind and Fire was an _explosive_ combination to say the least.

Kasumi smiled secretively. "Useful, no?"

He smirked.

Naruto looked from Sasuke to Kasumi and back to Sasuke. "Eeeh? What are you two talking about?"

"Hn. Dobe."

"What'd you say, teme?!"

**Tired**

"How are you not tired?" Kasumi asked some time later.

She was lying on the ground, conveniently using her pack as a pillow. Next to her, Naruto was completely asleep. Sasuke, however, was still standing like he had been since the beginning.

He looked down at her, both physically and metaphorically. "Maybe I'm just stronger than you." His tone indicated there was no maybe about it.

She laughed and it was the last thing he expected her to do. Kasumi had a silvery laugh, all airy and light. Sasuke couldn't decide whether he liked it or not.

**Arrival**

"Hey, guys! Good morning!" Kakashi raised a casual hand.

"You're late!" Naruto screamed, Kasumi deadpanned, and Sasuke glared.

Kakashi laughed nervously and rubbed his neck. "Oh sorry." He pointed to his right. "A black cat crossed by path so..."

Three glares were aimed at him. One was furious, the other was frustrated, and the last was annoyed. He sweatdropped. "Anyways..."

He set an alarm clock on a tree stump and set it. "Ok, it's set for noon."

Kasumi blinked. What was going on?

"Here are two bells," He held them up. "Your task is take these from me before the time's up. Those who don't have a bell by noon, gets no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll also eat right in front of you."

The glances the three exchanged were those of pure relief. 'So glad I eat breakfast today,' They each thought. No one liked fighting hungry.

"You only have to get one bell. There are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump. And... the person who doesn't take a bell fails, so at least one of you will be sent back to the Academy."

Naruto's eyes widened.

Kasumi frowned.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"If you want to use kunai and shuriken, you can." Kakashi went on. "You won't succeed unless you're coming at me with the intent to kill."

"I see." Kasumi muttered softly, mind already spinning. They would never be able to hurt their sensei... but distraction was always a possibility.

Naruto opened his mouth, but closed it again, obviously remembering the information they had read on Kakashi yesterday.

"Everybody ready?" Kakashi eye-smiled at them.

Kasumi gently nudged her teammates. "Naruto-san, when he says start, create some clones to distract him, then come find me. Sasuke-san, meet me and Naruto-san at that clearing at 5 o'clock." She murmured lowly. Kakashi could probably still hear them, but that didn't really matter. She already knew the heart of the matter wasn't combat skills.

She could tell from the boys' faces that they didn't like the orders, but they nodded. Probably because the words A-class ninja and ex-anbu and jounin were floating around in their heads and they had no other plans.

"Ready... START!" Kakashi called out.

In seconds, Naruto had around forty clones attacking Kakashi and the three genin had already leapt away.

**Plan**

"Alright, we need a plan and a good one." Kasumi stated as soon as Naruto joined them in kneeling in a circle.

"Hn. Why are we working together? We should be competing for the bells. I will not be sent back to the Academy." Sasuke said, eyes suspicious.

She frowned at him in exasperation. Really, did her teammates have to be so stubborn and prideful and... male?! Okay, maybe that wasn't fair, but God... "Sasuke-san, do the words 'ex-Anbu' mean anything to you?"

Sasuke didn't answer, but his eyes showed his acute annoyance.

Kasumi sighed. "Kakashi-sensei is much too powerful for us to take on alone. Thankfully, all we have to do is get the bells from him and not straight out defeat him. Individually, none of us stand a chance against snagging those bells from him."

"He is so far beyond our skill level right now that I doubt we'll be able to trick him for long, but as a team, we may be able to distract him long enough to make this work. Besides... teamwork is the foundation of Konoha. Now, will you be proud and arrogant and fail this test, or are you in?" Her gaze was piercing, relentless.

Sasuke scowled, but didn't argue against her logic. "Hn. I suppose you have a plan then."

She shrugged gracefully. "Something like that."

**Action**

Kakashi read his porn, languidly keeping an eyes out for his cute students. He had dispatched the clones with ease a while ago and since then, there had been no movement from the trio whatsoever.

He had been aware Kasumi had managed to get the boys to have a gathering per se... but did it work out?

Before he could ponder some more, a bright, _loud_ voice interrupted.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted from his perch at the top of the small hill. "Prepare yourself to be defeated!"

"... Did you say something?" He casually turned a page. Where, oh where, were Kasumi and Sasuke? Had the three ducklings split up?

A vein popped out from the blonde's forehead. "You asked for it!"

Naruto charged down the hill, creating multiple shadow clones as he did so.

Kakashi sighed and dodged a punch smoothly, dispelling a clone to his left.

Dodge. Kick. Dispel.

"You aren't going to get the best of me!" One Naruto yelled from behind.

Dodge. Dodge. Punch. Kick. Dispel x2.

"Take this!" Several shuriken came flying.

Dodge. Kick. Snap. Dispel x5.

A Naruto charged at him, aiming a kick right at his head. Kakashi lazily dodged it, only to be surprised with a punch that sent him flying back several feet.

His eyes widened. Naruto didn't, couldn't do that. He wasn't fast enough.

'Naruto' put brought his hands together.

Tiger. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger.

"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, letting his henge dispel. A massive fireball formed from his mouth to roar right at him.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, inhaling sharply. Talented, talented...

He performed a seal-less replacement jutsu and ended up on the other side of the field.

The Narutos and Sasuke faced him determinedly. Kakashi surveyed them with some approval and interest. Good, good. They were working together. But where was Kausmi...? He was fairly certain she had been the one who came up with the plan.

"Charge!" One Naruto declared and all his cute little students ran straight at him. Somewhere in the process, Sasuke disappeared again.

Kakashi's approval grew just a little bit more.

Sighing tragically, he put his little book away. It wouldn't do to be caught off guard again.

Ducking low, he effortlessly began to destroy the clones, all the while keeping an eye out for Sasuke and Kasumi.

"Hah!" Another Naruto came at him from behind and he absently lashed out with a kick. An attacking Naruto in front of him suddenly backed off and began making hand signs again.

Kakashi frowned. Did they really expect for him to fall for that again? He punched Sasuke straight in the face...

And was met with a bloom of smoke. His eyes widened. What?! A ruse?!

"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke called out from behind him.

Shit! He spun around, but to his surprise, a Naruto near the back was doing handseals, too. Different ones.

Tiger. Ox. Dog. Rabbit. Snake.

Letting her henge dispel, Kasumi called out, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" She slammed her hands in front of her, palms out, and a ferocious gale of wind blew through the clearing.

Kakashi barely had time to gape before the fire and the wind met... and suddenly the already large fireball was a congregation of flame and destruction heading straight towards him.

The inferno consumed the area where Kakashi had stood and kept going. Sweeping over several Narutos, it proceeded to devastate the nearby vegetation and start a forest fire.

"... That... was... a bit... bigger... than I thought it would be..." Several beads of sweat fell down Kasumi's face as she eyed the growing fire with dread.

Sasuke stared with the same horror and slight exasperation as the girl. "... We probably shouldn't have tested it on the field."

"No." Completely deadpan.

"Great observations, my little minions!" A cheerful voice spoke up behind them. Startled, everyone spun around to see their completely unscathed sensei eye-smiling at them. "Good thing I'm here or else you all would be in big trouble! But I applaud your efforts."

Bringing up his hands, Kakashi rapidly went through some hand seals, ignoring the tensing of his adorable students. "Water Release: Wild Water Wave." He blew out a torrent of water that quickly extinguished the fire before turning to Sasuke, Kasumi, and all the clones. "Now, where were we?"

_Briiinnnggg!_

Sasuke paled and Kasumi winced. Kakashi eye-smiled. "Ah. Nevermind then. I do believe that was the alarm."

"That's what you think, Kakashi-sensei!" A familiar exuberant voice shouted behind them.

Turning, Kakashi's eye widened upon finding his last student standing tall and proud behind them - the effect a bit ruined by his short height - and jangling two bells from his hands, smile brighter than the sun.

**Explanation**

"Well, well, well, you all must be very proud of yourselves." Kakashi commented.

Sitting in front of the logs, none of them were tied, he was met with a cheerful grin, a sweet smile, and a smug smirk. Kasumi lightly jingled the bells - Naruto had given them to her as soon as they had sat down without comment - in her hands.

"So? How did you do it?" He asked casually, curious despite himself.

Both Naruto and Sasuke glanced at Kasumi who blinked innocently at Kakashi.

He narrowed his eyes. "Kasumi-chan?"

She blinked slowly, her long lashes masking her expression for a moment. When her eyes were open once again, they were calm... reflective. Grudgingly, Kakashi found himself impressed. Not many genin knew how to hide their emotions like that. They hadn't had enough time to learn control... but then again, Kasumi was hardly normal.

His entire team was positively abnormal. Good thing he wasn't normal either.

"When Naruto-san first created the clones, Sasuke-san and I were in the trees. While the clones attacked you, we used that as a distraction to slip down and camouflage ourselves in the crowd. The real Naruto-san stayed in the bushes." She explained mildly. "The first time Sasuke-san cast his fire jutsu was to lure you into a sense of security. When you fell for the bait, we drove you towards Naruto-san and he created a clone that grabbed the bells while you were distracted. He threw them to Naruto-san before dispelling from the fire."

Outwardly, Kakashi eye-smiled and rubbed his chin, AKA his mask. Inwardly, he raised an eyebrow. That was good-planning for a new genin team, especially with one as dysfunctional as this was supposed to be. Nice teamwork, too...

"I see..." He mused. "And who came up with the plan?"

Kasumi simply looked at him, delicate features blank.

Naruto, smiling widely, pointed happily to his female teammate. "Kasumi-chan did! She's really smart."

Sasuke hnned, but gestured reluctantly to Kasumi as well.

"Interesting." Kakashi muttered, before perking up obnoxiously. "Well, now that you have the bells, what will you do with them, Kasumi-chan?"

Sasuke and Naruto instantly tensed up, glancing at the brown-eyed girl. Cautious hope flickered on Naruto's face tempered with a lifetime of neglect. Sasuke was suspicious, onyx eyes harsh and distrusting. Both deciding. Both judging. Kakashi realized, to his faint surprise, that he was judging as well. Judging the younger sister of 'Tsunami' Taishi.

To her credit, Kasumi didn't hesitate. A nonchalant flick of her hand and both Naruto and Sasuke caught a small bell.

She met Kakashi's eyes squarely, fearlessly.

Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment and pleasure before narrowing in determination. "No. Kasumi-chan, you came up with the plan so you should get the bell." He shoved the bell at Kasumi who frowned and pushed it back.

"No. You need to become Hokage and you did most of the work." She replied reasonably.

"That's a stupid reason. Take the bells, Kasumi-chan!" If anything, Naruto was stubborn.

"No." Unfortunately, she could be just as stubborn.

Kakashi couldn't tell who was more surprised when Sasuke grunted and held out his own bell to Kasumi: the girl, Naruto or himself.

"Much as I hate to admit it, the dobe is right. You came up with the plan. Take the bell, I don't need it." Sasuke spit out quickly.

"Yeah! See, look, Sasuke agrees with me!" Naruto shouted in triumph before pausing. "Hey! Teme, stay out of this! Kasumi-chan is taking my bell!"

"She's taking mine." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.

Kasumi furrowed her brow. "I'm not taking anyone's bell." She said firmly.

"Yes, you are!" The boys snapped in unison, thrusting their palms in her face, before turning to glare murderously at each other.

"She's taking my bell, teme!" Naruto declared.

Sasuke snorted. "Like she'd want a dead-last's bell."

Naruto stiffened. "What did you say?!"

Pressing her lips together, Kasumi grabbed both of the bells in a lightning-quick move and dropped it down the back of their shirts. They jumped.

"Wha - Kasumi-chan!" Naruto wailed, jumping around to try and get the bell out. "That's cold!"

Sasuke snapped his teeth together and reached back with his hand for the bell. "What the hell was that for?" He glowered, managing to successfully fish out the bell, unlike the blonde. Naruto stopped dancing to frown at her, too.

Kasumi stared back at them calmly, not at all fazed. "Neither of you are going to be sent back to the Academy and that's final."

Of course, that only made them more determined to get her to accept the bells. Sasuke scowled at her darkly and Naruto set his jaw doggedly.

Kakashi quickly cleared his throat before violence could break out. Over who got the bells, no less. And not in the usual way. "Actually, I have to say: You all pass!"

That did it. Both Sasuke and Naruto snapped their necks back to stare at him so quickly that he was a little surprised they hadn't sprained something. Kasumi blinked and looked back at him more slowly, tilting her head to the side in an absolutely adorable way.

"Wait, what?!" Naruto broke out of his shock first.

"What do you think the purpose to this test was?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto blinked, screwing up his forehead in obvious confusion. Sasuke kept quiet, dark eyes pensive. Kasumi continued to look at him with those patient brown eyes specked with amber.

None of them answered.

"Well? What do you think, Kasumi-chan?" He turned to what seemed like his smartest student.

She frowned thoughtfully. "Is it... teamwork?"

"Yup!" He eye-smiled at her. "The purpose was to see whether you can forget your own interest and work together in these designated circumstances. In a team, it is the teamwork that is most important. Individual skill is needed as well, but individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades in danger. On missions, it is essential that all the members of the team can and will work together without conflict and problems."

Kakashi began to walk towards a large stone. "Do you know what this stone is? The numerous names carved on this stone are ninjas who are recognized as heroes of the village."

The kunoichi kept quiet, her face carefully blank.

Sasuke said nothing, but Naruto...

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! I'm going to get my name on that stone! Hero! Hero! That's what I want to become!" He shouted for the world to hear.

Kasumi grimaced and shook her head.

"What?" He questioned, a slight hurt tone to his voice. "I can do it! Believe it!"

"These aren't normal heroes, Naruto." Kakashi informed him.

"Oh yeah?! Then what kind are they?" Naruto challenged rashly.

"They're K.I.A., Naruto-san." Kasumi said softly, eyes quietly respectful.

"What's that?" He asked, blatantly confused.

"Killed in Action." Sasuke explained curtly.

"They are all heroes who died while on duty." Kakashi said coolly.

Naruto's eyes went wide and his smile fell. He turned away, face somber.

"This is a memorial." Kakashi told them. "My best friend's name is carved on here..."

He turned back to them, his eye serious. "Remember, a ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash, but you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash."

Naruto flushed, eyes shining. 'He is so cool...'

A small smile touched Kasumi's face, even as she accessed her new sensei closely. 'Hatake Kakashi may not be so bad as a sensei after all...'

Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, but took the words to heart.

"That ends the training. All of you pass!" Kakashi gave them all a big thumbs up. "Ok! Starting tomorrow, Team #7 will begin its duties."

"Yay! I did it! I did it! Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!" Naruto cheered, tears in his eyes.

Sasuke smirked.

Kasumi grinned despite her misgivings of the upcoming weeks. 'Let's see how this goes.'

**Pass**

"So we all passed?" Kasumi inquired nonchalantly a few hours later, kneeling with her back turned towards the Hyuga Heiress.

Her group of friends were lazing around at their usual location and it was nearing sunset.

"H-hai." Hinata said quietly, her deft hands gently braiding the other girl's long cream-colored hair. Kasumi's hair was unbelievably light and weightless. It flew in the slightest breeze, which was why she tied it up in the first place. Hinata wove in wildflowers as she worked, the colors bright and vibrant against the neutral shade.

"Yeah. Our test was so troublesome." Shikamaru yawned. "We had to immobilize our sensei and actually do _work_."

She laughed daintily.

"Chip, Kasumi-chan?" Chouji offered.

She smiled and took it. "Thank you, Chouji-san. How was your test, Hinata-san? Shino-san?"

"W-We had t-to find K-Kurenai-sensei." Hinata offered.

Kasumi blinked. "Find?"

"Yes." Shino confirmed. "Our sensei is a genjutsu user and our task was to find her. Why? Because we are meant to be a tracking team. Why? Because as a Hyuga, Hinata has superior vision, as an Inuzuka, Kiba has a superior sense of smell, and as an Aburame, my bugs can spread out and discreetly search a large area."

"I see." She murmured, too used to her friend's logical speaking patterns to be caught off guard. Kasumi looked up at the blue, blue sky. "Well, I'm happy then. None of us will have to go to the Academy."

"Tch. Yeah, but you have _Naruto_ and _Sasuke_." Shikamaru pointed out. He didn't elaborate; he didn't need to elaborate.

Hinata blushed tomato red at the mention of Naruto. Everyone pretended they didn't notice.

She made a face. "Day by day, Shikamaru-san. Day by day."

He smirked and continued to cloud watch.

**Home**

When Kasumi got home, the lights were off and the table was empty. She didn't panic; this was a normal occurrence after all.

Putting her pack in her room, she wandered over to the fridge. There, on a large note, and written in bright red ink was a note from her brother.

_Hey, Kasumi-chan!_

_I have a mission today, but don't worry! I'll be back by the end of the week._

_I heard you passed Kakashi's test! Congrats, little sister! You've done the impossible. Looks like you are Mother's daughter after all! XD_

_Good look on your D-ranks! Hahahahaha_

_Your loving brother,_

_Hiroshi_

Kasumi shook her head, smiling despite herself. Hiroshi would be Hiroshi.

As she grabbed some ingredients out of the fridge, she let out a heavy sigh. She hoped the D-ranks weren't _too _bad.

* * *

_Next Time:_

_"N-N-Naruto-san...y-you...id-diot..." Kasumi managed to get out, gasping and coughing between the words. Thoroughly soaked, she had been unconscious when the boys had dragged her ashore and recovering from almost drowning was no easy feat._

* * *

**Please Review! Give me the feedback! Come on! Give it to me!**

**Ahh and I need a beta. I really do. Anyone available? O.O Please PM if you're interested!**

**Question: What elemental affinities should Kasumi have?**

**See you all soon~**


	4. Adjustments

**Me: Hah! You guys have to do D-ranks, you guys have to do D-ranks~**

**Team 7: *eyes twitch***

**Me: You guys have to do D-ranks, you guys have to do D-ranks~**

**Team 7: ...*bam***

**Kasumi:...so sorry. Author-chan is unavailable right now. She does not own Naruto and would like to thank all of her reviewers.**

**Hinata18809: Thank you, sweetie!**

**Rosy Fire: Thank you! I'm tryin.**

* * *

**Oops**

Sasuke arrived precisely on time to the bridge the third day to see his female teammate on the river underneath him. Literally.

Barely keeping his expression from displaying his outright shock, he stared at Kasumi, who was standing right on top of the water, eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration. She had her hands outstretched for balance and, even as he watched, a sudden shift in the water currents sent her sinking down into the depths.

Frowning with annoyance, Kasumi pooled her concentration, and pulled herself back to the surface of the stream. He could tell she was still battling the current's pull though.

Sasuke watched with a twinge of irritation and envy. Why did Kasumi know something he didn't? He had to be _strong_, damn it! And how the hell did she know how to do this anyways? Kakashi hadn't taught her, he knew that. The lazy, perverted guy had just sent them on worthless D-ranks for three whole days. Sasuke had never known that rebuilding houses was considered a mission before.

A gasp caught his attention and he didn't have to turn his head to see the dobe had arrived. Especially, when a moment later, Naruto called out, "KASUMI-CHAN! HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?! IT'S SO COOL!"

Really loudly.

As in, Sasuke wouldn't have been surprised if people a mile away had heard him, loud and clear.

Kasumi's eyes snapped open in shock, her concentration, obviously, broken. Immediately, she fell into the water, letting out a small shriek. The river swept her up and began to carry her downstream and Sasuke saw to his alarm that the pressure was keeping the girl from coming up for air, much less getting out.

"Damn." He muttered, running to the other side of the bridge and leaping off. In the back of his mind, he heard Naruto's frantic call of, "Kasumi-chan!" and the sounds of the dobe following after him, but he wasn't exactly concentrating on the idiot right then and there.

Kasumi was not obsessed with him, very smart, and knew techniques that he didn't. Like hell he was going to let her drown and have her replaced with a useless fangirl on the third day of being an official team. That would be bad for his record and would speak poorly of his abilities. He especially did not need any more nightmares of blood and guilt in his sleep.

**Wet**

"N-N-Naruto-san... y-you... id-diot..." Kasumi managed to get out, gasping and coughing between the words. Thoroughly soaked, she had been unconscious when the boys dragged her ashore and recovering from almost drowning was no easy feat.

He had the grace to look guilty and sheepish. "So-sorry... Kasumi-chan." He was panting, too.

"H-hmph... dobe..." Sasuke scoffed, out of breath as well.

Naruto attempted a glare, but lacked enough energy to make it truly vicious. "Sh-shut... up."

"Pl-please... wo-would... you two be... quiet?" Kasumi groaned out, turning on to her back with some effort.

The boys fell silent, deciding to obey the girl's request for once, Naruto because he was feeling guilty and Sasuke because he determined Kasumi needed time to recover.

For around 30 minutes, the trio laid in relative peace, their heartbeats and breaths gradually slowing down. It was a restful time, as the lack of noise was rare. The day was beautiful, the skies a brilliant cerulean with the sun bright and warm. In no time at all, they were dry once more.

Kasumi simply loved the quiet. The antics and arguments of her teammates were fun and entertaining, but they were also exhausting. To be with them in such a calm atmosphere was something new... and she found the calmness further endeared Sasuke and Naruto to her. They had never taken a time before to simply bond.

Naruto was uneasy with the void of silence and lack of movement, but found himself relaxing nonetheless. Neither of his teammates had unfair opinions of him and prejudices. It felt great to be with people who wouldn't look at him with fear or hatred or call him 'demon'. Sure, Sasuke was still a teme and Kasumi-chan was still a bit distant, but they were his _teammates_.

Sasuke found the serenity refreshing. He rarely took a moment to just lie down and relax. He was always training and running away from his screaming fangirls. The lack of expectations felt wonderful after the constant pressure from the Council and the 'sympathies' of the villagers who only wanted him for his clan's power and influence.

Naruto was too pure-hearted and idiotic to truly plot for power or money. In all honesty, all Naruto wanted was Sasuke's acknowledgement and he knew that. Kasumi didn't want anything at all from what he could tell and Sasuke prided himself on his intellect. To be suddenly free of all demands felt as if someone had just lifted a weight off his shoulders that he didn't even known was there. Not that he would ever admit that out loud to anyone, no matter what torture he had to undergo.

The tranquility was broken by Kasumi who sighed and pushed herself to her feet, having fully recovered. The boys looked at her curiously and she smiled wryly at them.

"Want to learn?" She asked and was abruptly pinned with two _very_ interested gazes.

**Practice**

"You have to start with tree-walking first." Kasumi explained to them softly, leading Naruto and Sasuke to some trees by the bridge.

"Tree-walking?" Sasuke repeated, skeptically. That didn't sound too hard.

"Yeah, that'll be easy!" And now he was agreeing with the dobe... Wonderful.

She smiled coyly. "There's a catch though."

He narrowed his eyes.

"What catch?" Naruto exclaimed.

Her smile widened. "You can't use your hands."

"..."

"Wait! What?!" Naruto tilted his head to the side dumbly. Sasuke refused to admit it, but he was just as confused.

"Basically, you direct a small amount of chakra to your feet. The chakra fills in the space between the bark of the tree and your shoes and you end up sticking to it. A too small amount of chakra will cause you to fall off. Too large will blast you off. When you can get to the top and stay at the top, you'll have mastered this practice." She told them and handed them two kunai. "Use this to mark your progress. I would suggest getting a running start."

"Oh. Alright! I'll master this! Believe it!" Naruto proclaimed for the world to hear, while tightly gripping his kunai.

"Hn." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the tree.

"I'll be practicing my water-walking," She informed them, already walking back. _"Please_ don't startle me again."

And then Kasumi left the boys to the beautiful frustration that was chakra control.

**Late**

"Ohayo." Kakashi greeted as he appeared out of nowhere. Literally.

"Gah!" Kasumi lost her concentration _again _and began to fall. Sighing inwardly, she gulped in a large breath of air and prepared herself for a thoroughly cold dunk.

Before she could, a deft hand grabbed her coat and Kakashi calmly bought her to land, chuckling softly at the mingled look of annoyance and gratefulness she shot him.

"You're late!" Naruto accused at the very base of his tree, having more than a few lumps on his head. Kakashi glanced fleetingly at the trunk, noting to his amusement that the blonde had, evidently, not gotten far.

Sasuke said nothing but gave him the Uchiha Death Glare of Doom. Considering that the Ice Prince hadn't gotten far either, it wasn't very effective.

"Mah, mah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "An old lady needed some help with her groceries, you see..."

"Don't lie!" Naruto shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Kakashi sweatdropped slightly and hurriedly changed the subject. "Well... I see you little minions have been hard at work."

"Yeah! Cause you don't teach us anything!" Naruto's voice was obnoxiously loud.

"Hmm? What's that? You think we should take more D-rank missions today? I suppose we could do that..." Kakashi whipped out his Icha Icha book to the sounds of his students' dismay.

He smiled. Such cute little ducklings they were.

**Weeds**

"Look guys! I'm all done!"

"..." Naruto received a thoroughly disgusted look from Sasuke.

"Naruto-san?" An exasperated Kasumi sighed.

"Yeah, Kasumi-chan?" He said with a wide grin.

"... Those aren't weeds."

"Eh?!"

"You damn brat! How dare you pull up my hard-grown tomatoes?!" Said the outraged old woman while waving a frying pan threateningly.

"Ahh!" And Naruto went sprawling into the dirt as the frying pan crashed into his head.

"Hn. Dobe."

"Wha wa tha?!" The blonde spit out the soil, making a disgusted face. That tasted _awful._

**Spars**

"Ugh! Where the hell is Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto raged at the sky in vain.

"You know he's always late, Naruto-san." Kasumi said as she turned a page in her book resignedly.

"Yeah, but it's so annoying!" Naruto complained. "He's supposed to be our sensei and actually teach us stuff!"

"Hn." To both of their surprise, that was _agreement_. From Sasuke. To Naruto. It was mind-boggling. Maybe the D-ranks were rotting the Uchiha's holier-than-thou attitude, Kasumi mused.

Kasumi raised an eyebrow and Naruto's jaw dropped open. The Uchiha graciously ignored both, giving them an arrogant look. On second thought, probably not, she corrected herself quickly.

Quickly getting over her shock, Kasumi sighed and considered the matter. Reading for two or three hours every day when she could be doing something worthwhile was rather annoying. She made a point to be as productive as possible in her life. She supposed... yeah, that would probably work.

Firmly, she closed her book, the loud noise drawing the attention of her teammates.

"Kasumi-chan?" Naruto questioned, tilting his head in an adorable way.

Hiding her smile, she suggested calmly, "Why don't we spar? It'll make the time go by faster and help us grow stronger."

Naruto had no problems and Sasuke's attention had immediately been caught by the word 'stronger'.

Kasumi put her book away and led the three to the training grounds.

**Naruto vs. Kasumi**

"Last time, Naruto-san fought Sasuke-san so how about this time I fight Naruto-san?" Kasumi said once they were all there and had finished stretching.

Sasuke didn't reply... which was the same as an affirmative. Naruto grinned at her excitedly. "Let's go, Kasumi-chan!"

Her smile only had the slightest of edges. "You're on, Naruto-san."

And with that, Naruto put his hands together in a familiar seal and shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke, a few dozen Narutos were charging at Kasumi with loud war cries. She tilted her head to the side and waited patiently.

5 feet... 4 feet - the Narutos started to hesitate... 3 feet - the Narutos were visibly hesitating now - ... 2 feet-

A flicker of a smile and Kasumi was suddenly a blur of movement.

From the sidelines, Sasuke's eyes widened exponentially. Kasumi was damn _fast_. Faster than the dobe and maybe faster than himself. She darted through the crowd of shadow clones, twisting, kicking, punching and causing mass havoc easily. But... his eyes narrowed. She wasn't as physically strong as the dobe and nowhere near his own strength.

His quick eyes caught some struggle when several clones tried to catch her and when one actually tried to tackle her. Kasumi had had to wrestle with that one for a bit before she managed to get a kunai out and stab it. His mind on auto-pilot, Sasuke mapped out the strengths and weaknesses of the team he previously thought weak and pathetic. He noted that Kasumi needed to work on her body as, physically, she wasn't quite up to par with the dobe or himself.

Not that it truly mattered in this fight, as she _was_ thoroughly kicking the dobe's ass.

Despite himself, he had to admit the dobe was rather creative. Must be because of planning all those pranks, he scoffed to himself. The idiot rapidly caught on to Kasumi's weakness and the clones began trying to bombard her with sheer numbers and strength.

She narrowed her eyes and jumped straight up into the air, going up at least 15 feet to the shock of her teammates. Sasuke made a note to work on that damn tree-climbing some more. He still hadn't mastered it, to his frustration.

Landing on the other side of the clearing, Kasumi decided that this strategy had to be stopped. Now.

"Get her!" One Naruto shouted, breaking the others free of their trance. With a great roar, they started to rush forward again.

Not bothering to hurry, Kasumi brought her hands together and went through several hand-seals and stopped on snake. The Narutos saw far too late to react.

"Oh shit." One muttered. The others were inclined to agree with them.

This time, Kasumi's smile was just a tad evil. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" She called out and slammed her hands forward.

The gust of wind tore across the training field, taking all of the Narutos with it. They collided with the trees, the ground, and each other, and one after another, dispelled in a burst of smoke. Finally, only one was left. The real Naruto had crashed into a tree quite harshly and was fighting off spinning stars.

Kasumi crossed the distance between them in a flash of chakra and gently placed her kunai at his throat. "My win, Naruto-san." She said gently.

He pouted but said good-naturedly, "Yield."

She let him up and he grinned at her. "You did a great job, Kasumi-chan!"

Kasumi smiled back easily. "You did as well, Naruto-san."

And then she turned to Sasuke and her smile turned challenging. "Your turn, Sasuke-san."

He smirked. Fine. Challenge accepted.

**Sasuke vs. Kasumi**

Sasuke was impulsive, but nowhere near as reckless as Naruto. So the fight between the top shinobi and top kunoichi of their year started off with the two eyeing each other cautiously, each waiting for the other to start the first move.

Sasuke moved first. Reaching into his pouch, he grabbed three shuriken and sent then flying with a flick of his wrist and deadly precision. Kasumi casually leaned her body to the side, dodging the flying projectiles easily.

Not that they were really meant to hit. As soon as they had left his hand, the Uchiha had been moving, crossing the field with startling speed.

Not that Kasumi had ever taken her eyes off him. When he reached her, she was ready for him.

A punch to the left and she dodged smoothly. It was followed by a vicious kick to her shoulder that she weaved under and she was on the offensive now.

She sent a hard jab to his solar plexus that he blocked and aimed a strike to his neck that he avoided. Twisting with the momentum, she almost swept him off his feet in a single move. Sasuke jumped at the last second and she took the opportunity to glance a punch off his blocking left arm.

Sasuke scowled. Kasumi wasn't very strong, but hell if she wasn't precise and vicious. She knew all the places that were vulnerable and would _hurt_. Unless he could get the chance to use his superior strength against her, close combat wasn't going to work.

He leapt back and went through rapid hand-seals. Time to see just whether or not his female teammate was bluffing when she had said she knew some good ninjustu. "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

The large fireball blew straight towards the lithe girl and she frowned thoughtfully going through some hand-seals of her own.

Dragon. Tiger. Hare.

She sucked in a deep breath, calling out, "Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" A large stream of water gushed out of her mouth and met the fireball head on.

Immediately, a layer of water vapor coated the field and visibility went down to almost zero.

Naruto frowned, peering into the fog closely. Where were the teme and Kasumi-chan?

He could hear grunts and noises in the fog, but he couldn't _see_ anything!

Slowly, way too slowly in his opinion, the fog began to disperse.

"Yield?" That was the teme's voice!

Finally, the fog cleared away and Naruto's jaw dropped. His two teammates were in the middle of the field and sometime in the commotion, Sasuke had pinned down Kasumi with his own body. One hand had both of her wrists in an iron hold and he was letting most of his weight rest on her to keep her from moving. His other hand held a lethally sharp kunai to her throat.

Kasumi blinked slowly, her brown eyes staring straight into unyielding onyx ones. A pleased smile softened the brown orbs to melted milk chocolate with specks of caramel. "Yield." She agreed.

Sasuke got off her and offered his hand. He _had_ been raised as a gentleman, though he didn't bother being one most of the time.

She took it, letting him pull her to her feet. "Nice match, Sasuke-san."

He grunted and headed off towards the bridge. Naruto bristled with anger at his rudeness.

Sasuke didn't trust himself right at that moment to not open his mouth and tell her she smelled like an intoxicating mix of fresh linen and warm fires in the dead of winter. It reminded him of a home that, long ago, had been filled with happiness; a home that had been brutally torn away from him. It hurt... the memories that her scent invoked. It wasn't fair.

It just wasn't fair.

**Analysis**

"I suppose we should go over our fights now." Kasumi said as they all settled back on the bridge. She was looking down into the fast flowing water, her mind obviously elsewhere.

Sasuke lifted his eyebrow a fraction and Naruto frowned. "What do you mean, Kasumi-chan?"

"Hmm?" She looked up, her eyes distracted. "Well, go over what we did right or wrong. Strengths. Weaknesses. Areas of improvement."

Naruto pouted. "But that's boring!"

Kasumi smiled patiently, somehow maintaining a patience that Sasuke had a feeling he would never gain. "Yes, but Naruto-san, if we don't know what to improve on, how can we improve?"

Naruto thought this over, scrunching up his face in obvious concentration. He sighed and his shoulders fell. "Fine. I still don't like it though." He said decidedly.

Sasuke grunted when she looked at him and she decided to take that as a yes.

"Alright, I'll start first." Kasumi volunteered herself as Naruto was still sulking and Sasuke was... antisocial. "Naruto-san, your use of clones were good, but you may want to work on your taijustu and long-range capabilities."

Naruto nodded, eyes serious for once.

"Sasuke-san, your taijustu is excellent, but you may want some improvisation. Ah, and maybe some more ninjustu."

The Uchiha frowned, but accepted the criticism.

"Naruto-san?" She prompted when the blonde continued to remain lost in thought.

"Oh!" He jumped a little and rubbed the back of his neck. "Right, sorry. Umm, Kasumi-chan, you're really fast, but you're not all that strong, you know." She nodded. "Yeah and teme, you suck!"

A vein popped in Sasuke's forehead.

Kasumi sighed and rubbed at her temple. "Naruto-san, that is not proper feedback."

Naruto crossed his arms petulantly. "But it's true."

Her sigh was deeper this time. "Naruto-san..."

"Fine, fine. The teme should work on his left side. He isn't good on that side." Naruto scratched his head. Both Kasumi and Sasuke blinked.

'Maybe he isn't as idiotic as I thought...'

"I know cause that's how I got him tied up." He added with a satisfied grin.

Kasumi suppressed a laugh and Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. 'I take it back!'

"Sasuke-san?" Kasumi prompted once more.

The brooder frowned, but said, "The dobe really needs to work on his taijutsu and he needs some more ninjutsu. He's horrible at both. Kasumi, you need to work on your strength and your hand-seal speed."

She hummed softly. "Alright, thank you."

"Stupid teme," Naruto muttered under his breath.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What did you say, dobe?"

Kasumi closed her eyes and counted slowly to ten. 'Must not lose temper, must not lose temper, must not lose temper...'

**Mystery**

"Oi, oi, what happened here?" Kakashi asked when he showed up an hour later. He looked over at the messed up training ground curiously and back to his students.

Kasumi looked wrung up. She was leaning against the railing, face drawn.

One look at the boys told him why.

They were glaring at each other, the animosity coming off them almost amusing.

Almost being the keyword.

Kakashi eye-smiled and cheerfully whipped out his orange book. "Mah, mah, there's so much tension in the air. I think we should take some more D-ranks today."

He was pinned with three glares.

Two were riddled with anger and annoyance and one was filled with exasperation and exhaustion.

He smiled. Such cute little students they were.

* * *

_Next Time: _

_"Oh." Naruto frowned, brow furrowing deeply in his concentration. "The hunter-nin are the dumpster people...?"_

* * *

**Review~**

**Ah and thanks to my awesome brand new beta, Chaos Emperor Nex. **

**Question: How would you describe Kasumi-chan right now?  
**


	5. Improvement

**Me: I don't own Naruto!**

**Naruto: Dattebayo!**

**Me: -_-ll What are you doing here?**

**Kasumi: Be nice now.**

**Me: Ah! And take a look at my Gemstones blog! The link's on my profile.**

**lifethroughanother'seyes: Thank you for answering and reviewing! I think you're pretty much right on the mark!**

**Hinata18809: Oh, thank you!**

**Bella-swan11: It was very good guesswork! You've given me a lot of ideas, but the romance between Sasuke and Kasumi will take a while to develop, yet. Thank you for reviewing!**

**Randomness-sama: Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it! Naruto is an awesome manga, just so you know! I missed a bit in the plot? Well, my story is structured through moments in the plot, so yes, sometimes I do miss some things in the plot. I do my best to get the important part though. Thank you for reviewing!**

**kawiikitsune2004: Well, now, that would have to depend on whether or not she studies under Tsunade. Thank you for the review, dear!**

* * *

**Habit**

It quickly became a routine. They would arrive on the bridge at the correct time and spend the first hour sparring against each other.

Kasumi and Sasuke corrected Naruto's taijutsu.

Naruto and Sasuke helped Kasumi become stronger.

Kasumi and Naruto provided Sasuke with a worthy challenge for him to pit himself against.

At lunchtime, they would get together to get ramen or barbecue or sushi. Mostly ramen though, to Sasuke and Kasumi's exasperation. Around that time, Kakashi arrived and they would spend hours doing D-ranks missions. Their sensei generally left after five in the afternoon.

After Kakashi left, Sasuke and Kasumi took over the job of stuffing a few years of Academy teachings into Naruto's thick skull. Kasumi helped Sasuke on his jutsus and he let her borrow a few of his clan's scrolls. Naruto and Sasuke nudged Kasumi into being a little more social, if only because she needed to be the peacekeeper. Around sunset, they would leave for home with only a few insults thrown in by the boys.

Small differences. Big differences.

**Fences**

"Naruto-san... what happened to your face?"

He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, only succeeding in getting more paint on himself. "I... umm... accidentally... tipped some of the paint on me?"

"Hn. You're such an idiot." Sasuke commented, but it was more amused than downgrading.

"Oh yeah?" A mischievous twinkle appeared in the shorter boy's eyes and they both tensed. Both Kasumi and Sasuke were familiar with that look from their Academy days. It generally signaled an upcoming prank at someone else's expense.

Without warning, Naruto lunged and tackled Sasuke to the ground, getting the white paint all over him in the process.

The Uchiha spluttered in outrage, eyes wide.

Naruto smiled smugly. "Who's the idiot now?"

Sasuke's eye twitched and right in front of the fence they were supposed to be painting, the boys started to wrestle.

Kasumi - damn being professional - laughed until she cried, even when they ended up completely demolishing the fence.

Sitting underneath a tree, Kakashi eye-smiled and casually turned a page in his orange book.

**Naruto-ese**

"Ugh!" Naruto screamed, throwing his book at the ground. "I don't get this!"

Kasumi frowned and set the weights she had been lifting on the ground. Walking over, she sat down next to Naruto. "What don't you get, Naruto-san?"

Naruto took a deep breath in and let it back out, trying to calm himself down. He didn't like bugging Kasumi-chan or even the teme because he didn't get the stupid Academy stuff, because they were trying so hard (In Sasuke's own special abrasive way) and being so patient (Mostly Kasumi), but he simply did not get the information!

"I don't know." He said miserably. "I just don't understand it!"

She nodded understandingly and picked up his abused textbook. "Alright. Don't panic now. Show me where."

Naruto took another deep breath and started to flip through the pages again.

Kasumi reached for the stopwatch on her wrist and casually focused her eyes on an incoming navy blur. As soon as Sasuke ran past her, she stopped the timer.

"Two minutes and thirty seconds." She told the panting Uchiha.

He exhaled sharply and sat down beside them, grabbing an icy water bottle.

"It's ten seconds better than yesterday." Kasumi said while he took a long sip.

"Yeah," He screwed on the top and put it back down on the grass. "But your time is one minute and forty seconds."

There was a blatant gap.

She smiled. "And you can lift almost 25 pounds more than I can. I think that evens things out a bit."

He gave the classic Uchiha grunt, but didn't disagree.

"Found it!" Naruto declared triumphantly. He shoved the textbook over to Kasumi and Sasuke. "Here it is!" He pointed to a large text session.

"... Hunter-Nin?" Kasumi read.

"Yeah. What the hell are they?!" Naruto scowled and crossed his arms.

"Hmph. Hunter-nin are basically the shadow cleaners of a village, dobe." Sasuke said, not unkindly. By his standards, anyway. From anyone else, it would have been downright rude.

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Okay, you know what missing-nin are right?" Kasumi asked patiently.

"Yup! They're ninja that have left their village... right?" Naruto replied, somewhat uncertainty.

"Yes." Kasumi nodded, eyes dark. "They are traitors who don't return to their village; ninja that have no alliance to any village and are considered criminals."

"So consider them the trash." Sasuke picked up an with ease born of hours of teaching alongside the cream-haired girl. "The hunter-nin are the ones sent out by the hidden villages to dispose of them quietly so they don't let the secrets of the village out or become a hassle like killing innocent civilians everywhere they go."

"Oh." Naruto frowned, brow furrowing deeply in his concentration. "The hunter-nin are the dumpster people...?"

Kasumi and Sasuke exchanged a look. Good enough, they agreed wordlessly.

"Yeah." Sasuke said. "Just remember that they always kill the missing-nin as soon as they're defeated and bring the head back as proof."

Naruto gave them a blank look. "Why?"

"Uhh..." Kasumi bit her lip. "Well, you know how the dumpster people have to bring back proof to their boss to show they did their work?"

Naruto nodded.

"It's like that. The workers only bring back a form of where they went and how much trash was collected. They don't actually bring all the trash to their boss, do they?"

"Oh!" Naruto's eyes lit up with understanding. "It's like that! I get it now! Thanks Kasumi-chan. Thanks teme." Nodding to himself, he went back to reading his textbook.

Sasuke frowned as a sudden realization struck him. Horrified, he paled. Eyes wide, he turned to Kasumi and said, "_What_ does it say about me that I now know how to speak Naruto-ese?"

For a second, she stared at him blankly while Naruto's head snapped up, spluttering in indignation. And then, she threw back her head and laughed in pure delight.

Eyes wide, Naruto's mouth fell open. Sasuke wasn't much better, his eyes unconsciously tracing the elegant lines of her long, slender neck.

They had never heard her laugh like this. Oh, she had giggled and chuckled before, but this... this was different. This laughter was unrestrained, pure and _genuine_ as it had never been before. A warm and gentle laugh that quietly coiled around him in a long forgotten ease.

Kasumi looked back at him, eyes filled with happiness, a faint flush on her cheeks, and a sweet smile on her lips. For a second, the Ice Prince felt his heart stutter. "Don't worry, Sasuke-san. I'm sure you haven't lost _all _ your 'coolness'."

He glared at her, unsure if he did it because of her comment or whether he did it to regain the composure he had lost at the impact of her laughter. "You talk like I want all of my fangirls!"

"Who's to say you don't?" She retorted innocently.

Sasuke choked on air.

**Improvement**

"Kasumi-chan! Look, look!"

Drawn by Naruto's cries, Kasumi leapt off the river with a burst of chakra and walked on over to the trees.

Where she craned her neck- really craned her neck- to see her teammates.

"We did it!" Naruto crowed from the very top of his tree.

Sasuke smirked at her, also from the very top of his tree.

Kasumi blinked in surprise before smiling warmly. "Congratulations, you two. You have now mastered the tree-climbing exercise." And earlier than she had expected to boot. She had thought that with Naruto's outrageously massive chakra and Sasuke's stubborn pride, they would have had to practice for at least two more days. Then again, she hadn't factored their competitiveness in and that _was_ a major factor.

Naruto cheered loudly, throwing up his hands in his excitement.

Sasuke managed a small, rare smile for the occasion.

"Now..." Her smile turned wicked. "You get to move on to the water-walking exercise." The two, with their arguing and bickering, had caused her to fall into the river countless times. Kasumi believed in a little harmless revenge.

Naruto fell silent, face paling.

Sasuke grimaced slightly.

They had both seen how that could turn out. Kasumi had ended up soaked in the mornings for days before she mastered that exercise and more than once, one of them had to go and fish her out of the river before she drowned.

"Good luck~" Kasumi sang gleefully.

"You're evil." Sasuke stated.

She crackled in response.

**Sasuke-ese**

"What do you think we should do today?" Kasumi asked Sasuke one morning as they waited for Naruto to arrive. They were both leaning against the railing, but on opposite sides.

He tilted his head to the right by about two degrees. (Train, of course.)

"It's our no-training day." She reminded him, shaking her head.

When they had started to train, both of the boys had suggested training everyday with no letting up. Kasumi had first hand experience on how that would go and had immediately put her foot down. An hour of debating later - she was a _very_ effective debater - and they had all agreed that for one day of their week, they would have a no-training day.

Didn't mean the boys liked the agreement. Sasuke grunted. (We should just train anyways.)

She shook her head in exasperation. "Talk, learn, or relax?"

He lifted his right shoulder up a bit. (Don't care.)

Kasumi sighed. "Useful, Sasuke-san." Sarcasm dripped off her voice.

A corner of his mouth lifted up. (Touchy, touchy.)

Before she could respond, a bright voice interrupted them. "Hey, guys!" Naruto called, walking over.

The brown-eyed girl smiled at him. "Good morning, Naruto-san."

Sasuke inclined his head slightly. (Morning, dobe.)

"Whatcha guys talking about?" Naruto asked curiously, leaning next to Sasuke on the railing.

"What we're going to do today." She told him quietly.

"Oh, right! It's no-training day, today!" Naruto tensed in surprise. And promptly went into full-on depression mood. "That sucks..."

Sasuke half-smirked, aiming it at Kasumi. (See? The dobe agrees with me.)

She determinedly ignored him. "Talk, learn, or relax?"

"Hmm, how about we talk today?" Naruto suggested. "We've been really busy this week."

"Sure." They both look at Sasuke.

He shrugged. (Fine.)

"Alrigh-" Kasumi started.

"Hey!" Naruto cried out suddenly, staring at Sasuke. His teammates stared at him. "I just realized something!"

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow. (What?)

"Me and Kasumi-chan..." He paused for drama. "... are both fluent in Sasuke-ese!"

Kasumi blinked and Sasuke twitched.

Naruto and Kasumi looked at each other.

The Uchiha scowled. He knew what was coming next.

They started to smile.

He glared at them.

And they burst out laughing, though Kasumi was considerate enough to try and muffle it against her hand.

Sasuke did his best not to flush. He wasn't particularly successful.

**Upgrade  
**

It happened during one of their training sessions. It was Sasuke versus Naruto and Kasumi and he was having some trouble.

Kasumi had quickly figured out how to exploit Naruto's ridiculous reserves of chakra and his mass shadow clones. The end result was Sasuke being tackled by an entire army of orange-clad knuckleheads while the strategist of their group did her best to send him flying into a tree with ninjutsu.

It worked out perfectly for them. What Sasuke needed was some combat experience and a challenge and he was certainly getting that. Naruto needed to practice his taijutsu and Kasumi needed to practice her ninjutsu. Win, win.

Except Sasuke was close to being overwhelmed.

"Hah! Take this, teme!" One Naruto all but shouted in his ear, drawing back a fist while the clone opposite him drew back a leg. In front of him, one prepared to slug him in the face and behind him, one aimed a kick towards his stomach.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, bending backwards to perform a handstand, kicking out with his legs. The four Narutos dispelled and he pushed himself back to his feet even as 10 more rushed at him. He went through them speedily despite his weariness, making several notes to himself about flaws in Naruto's stance that needed to be fixed.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" The familiar voice rang through the clearing and Sasuke grimaced as he rapidly anchored himself to the ground with chakra.

Currently, Kasumi was experimenting with the size and strength of her wind jutsu; trying to narrow the range and increase the strength at the same time. Unfortunately for Sasuke, it was working. When asked, he had bluntly told her that being hit by her jutsu felt like a tornado coming at him full speed. Her serene grin had been more than a tad frightening.

The gust of wind crashed into him with the force of an out of control cyclone and Sasuke staggered, but held his ground. More than a few of the Narutos weren't so lucky. They were flung up into the air, crying out loudly, and eventually dispelled when slammed back down against various hard surfaces.

The jutsu churned the clearing, spinning leaves and branches and other random and strangely pointing stuff around. Sasuke scowled. He already had countless cuts and bruises on his body courtesy to the aftermath of his female teammate's brutal attack.

It was pretty damn hard for his ego to accept that he was getting beat by _shrubbery_ of all things. Strengthening his resolve, he got to work on avoiding the annoying, and sharp, projectiles that were hurled his way. The remaining Narutos flung themselves at him once more, fists and feet slicing through the air. The fighting became mechanical after a while and he found to his surprise that it was becoming easier.

'Improvement at last, perhaps?' He thought optimistically and then paused. He had been spending way too much time with Naruto, he would never have had such a thought before.

Finally it was over and Sasuke stood in the clearing by himself. There was a heartbeat of silence. Then another.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Oi. Dobe. Kasumi."

Woven in with his words was an ever so slightly irritated question. Why were they stopping? He had been getting into it!

Naruto crawled out of a bush, his eyes wide with confusion. A mere second later, Kasumi dropped down from a high tree branch, her face entirely blank.

Sasuke tensed. Something was wrong. He had spent enough time with the understanding girl to know that when her face held that expression, nothing good was going to come out of it. "What is it?" He demanded immediately.

Kasumi didn't answer instantly, choosing to walk closer instead. Only a few feet away from him, she stopped and inspected his face closely, head tilted. Sasuke resisted the urge to fidget under her examination. He was used to girls checking him out, but this was different. Her brown eyes were cool, practically clinical. It was a look that made him uneasy; he was more used to her kind and patient nature.

Dimly, he was aware of Naruto joining them, but Kasumi held his eyes, all but commanded his attention. Her gaze was unrelenting, eerily penetrating.

Without warning, apparently satisfied with her observations, Kasumi gave him a small, quietly pleased smile. Not saying a word, she reached behind her to undo her headband from around her neck. His brow furrowed. What was she doing?

Slipping the symbol of her loyalty to Konohagakure off her neck, she held it in front of his eyes. Sasuke inhaled sharply, shock coursing through his veins.

Reflected in the steel in front of him, were two single-tomoe Sharingan eyes. The Uchiha Legacy.

"Congratulations, Sasuke-san." Kasumi whispered into the silence. "You've awakened your bloodline."

**Girl Power  
**

"Free for all?" Kasumi suggested one afternoon. "So we can see how we've improved?"

"Yeah! This'll be awesome!" Naruto shouted with a grin, pumping one fist in the air.

"Need you ask?" Sasuke smirked at her.

She smiled slyly.

"Okay..." Kasumi said when they were all ready. "Ready... set... go!"

Immediately, Naruto leapt for Sasuke, creating a crowd of clones in the process.

Unfazed, Sasuke began the long task of dispelling each and every one. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on the point of view, the taijutsu training Naruto had been going through seemed to have been effective. His stance was less shaky and his attacks were more coordinated. Plus, his group of shadow clones no longer got in each other's way.

Didn't mean Sasuke had a hard time destroying them though. One high kick to the face sent a clone flying into his peers and dispelled five, another punch got rid of three bunched up clones. He didn't use his Sharingan; they had all agreed that the dojutsu used up too much of his chakra and he needed to adjust to it first.

Naruto devoted all of his attention to pummeling Sasuke into the ground and Sasuke devoted all of his attention into pummeling Naruto to the ground.

Just because they weren't as antagonistic to one another as before didn't mean they weren't rivals anymore.

Neither of them paid attention to Kasumi

Said girl narrowed her eyes and smiled slowly. 'I'll make them regret that...'

Bringing up her hands, she rapidly ran through hand-seals. Having taken Sasuke's advice to heart, she had begun practicing her hand-seals every night before bed. It proved to be quite effective.

"Wind Release: Divine Wind!" She shouted, producing a gust of wind that formed several small tornadoes that tore through the training grounds and caught both of the boys by surprise. She had never used that jutsu on them before, but then again, Kasumi firmly believed that a girl should always have at least one secret trick up her sleeve and she had hammered that into them as well.

Not that they had particularly listened to her, as evident by the 'Oh, Crap' looks on their faces.

"Shit." Naruto muttered.

"Damn." Sasuke agreed.

The jutsu hit and instantly, all of the Naruto clones were dispelled, and the real Sasuke and Naruto were thrown up like rag dolls to be tossed into the trees.

Before the two could recover, Kasumi was doing more hand-seals. "Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" She blew out a wave of water straight at Naruto who promptly went flying.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke got to his feet and went through his own hand-seals. "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

This time around, Kasumi didn't bother trying to counter it. She simply pushed some chakra out of her feet and launched herself up and over the attack. Landing on her feet, she tilted her head at Sasuke.

He smirked at her and crossed the distance between them in a burst of chakra.

'Taijutsu, it is then.' Kasumi thought to herself, centering herself before he reached her.

It was a fast, brutal battle that Sasuke started with a quick punch to the face. Kasumi ducked under, countering with a kick to his solar plexus that he blocked.

Sasuke was still much stronger than Kasumi, but she had gotten stronger. She was still much faster than Sasuke, but he had gotten faster.

A quick burst of punches and kicks were issued from both sides. Kasumi landed two hits on Sasuke's left side, he really needed to work on that, and he landed a hit on her stomach.

Hissing in a breath, Kasumi flipped back and sent a barrage of kunai at Sasuke. He narrowed his eyes, dodging some and whipping out his own kunai to deflect the rest.

What was she doing?

She sent a flurry of shuriken at him that he deflected. She sent some more kunai at him. He had had enough. Why was she stalling?

Narrowing his eyes, he leapt forward and snapped his foot up. It collided directly with the side of her head and he froze, staring at her in shock.

What the hell? She hadn't even tried to dodge or block and he knew damn well that she was faster than that! She wasn't too hurt, was she?

Letting out a soft cry, Kasumi slammed into the ground from the impact.

Sasuke righted himself and was turning with an are-you-okay on the tip of his tongue when a bloom of smoke filled his vision that dispelled to reveal a log. His eyes widened. Replacement Jutsu?!

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" A voice called out behind him.

Right before he was blown away by a ruthless gale, Sasuke growled, "Fuck."

He tore through two trees before exhausting his momentum. Hitting the last tree head first, he slid down slowly, groaning.

Landing on the floor none too gently, he was telling his brain that 'no, trees do not grow horizontally and the clouds are not supposed to be _there_' when a kunai rested itself gently on his throat.

"Yield?" Kasumi floated into view, her brown eyes concerned.

He sighed in resignation. "Yield."

She smiled softly and grabbing his hand, gently pulled him into a sitting position against the base of the tree.

"Hold still." She said. "I think you have a concussion."

Sasuke had no intention of moving.

Quickly making hand-seals, she placed her hands together over his head. Green chakra gathered around her hands and he found himself closing his eyes as healing chakra flowed into him.

"I didn't know you know medical ninjutsu." He murmured into the silence.

"Only a little," She replied, a smile in her voice. "I'm far from a certified medic nin, I'm afraid."

Sasuke snorted. "If I recall correctly, that's not exactly your goal in life."

Kasumi laughed sweetly. "I suppose you're right."

"I thought medical ninjutsu required extreme chakra control." It was really more of a question than a statement.

She stilled for a moment before continuing. "I learned this jutsu when I was six years old. I've had a lot of times to practice it."

He frowned and would have pushed as to why a six year old would be learning complicated medical ninjutsu, but at that moment, Naruto chose to jump down from a tree and land beside them.

Sasuke opened his eyes and Kasumi glanced up for a moment before returning her focus to what she was doing. "Welcome back, Naruto-san."

Naruto took in the scene and chuckled, sitting down next to Sasuke. "Guess you beat us both, Kasumi-chan." He was smiling though.

Kasumi's own smile was a trifle smug. "If you two weren't so focused on each other, I wouldn't have stood a chance." She scolded mildly.

The blonde grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. Guess we should work on that."

Sasuke grunted in agreement.

Kasumi finished healing Sasuke a few minutes later and folded her hands in her lap. "It's getting late." She noted, looking at the sunset.

It was an impressive sight, filled with crimson red and yellow sunlight and hot pink.

Naruto hummed in agreement. "Yeah. But let's stay here for a bit longer."

And they did and it was a rare and precious time of peace.

**Team**

As time went on, little by little, Kasumi could feel the deadly cracks in her team mending. She could feel their brittle teamwork becoming better, the rival between the boys becoming more healthy. They were becoming more than a mish-mash of genins. They were becoming a _team_.

"How's Team 7?" Chouji asked one early morning, passing her a chip.

Kasumi paused in her game of shouji with Shikamaru. She thought about the start of her team, the fighting and tension and unwilling cooperation. And she thought of the friendly teasing and quiet pointers and easy camaraderie now.

She smiled. "We're getting better." Kasumi told her first friends. They smiled back at her.

**Notice**

Kakashi noticed the change in his students, of course. It was subtle but he was a jounin. He had been an ex-Anbu Captain for God's sake.

It was in the way the boys listened when Kasumi spoke. It was evident in how Naruto and Sasuke didn't give off killing intent every time they were in the same area. It was the teasing but friendly bantering that occurred between the three.

It was the brightness of Naruto's smile even in the streets where the villagers glared at him. It was the relaxed shoulders and faint respect in Sasuke's eyes. It was the light laughter of Kasumi during an argument between the boys. It was how their teamwork was fitting, like pieces to the same puzzle.

Kakashi didn't understand it, but the change was good so he didn't question it that much. If his students were getting along better, then who was he to disrupt that process?

* * *

_Next time:_

_"I am the super expert bridge builder, Tazuna." The old man said bluntly. "I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."_

_Kasumi sighed and placed a hand on her waist. The nagging feeling in the back of her mind was getting stronger and something was definitely wrong. How the hell had she managed to get in this much trouble in only the first few days of her genin career?_

* * *

**Review! Reviews are like hugs and kisses and love all in one. Give me the affection! I admit it, I need more self-confidence.**

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**Question: What do you think will happen in the Land of Waves arc?**


	6. Tazuna

**Me: I don't own Naruto!**

**Naruto: Of course you don't!**

**Me: That's not exactly what I meant...**

**Naruto: Huh? *scratches head***

**Me: *hangs head in gloom* Nevermind...**

**Naruto: Hmph. Check out Author-chan's blog, now!**

**Osen-san: Thank you! Hope you enjoy!  
**

**lifethroughanotherseyes: Who knows...XD**

**Bella-swan11: Lolz, greetings! Kasumi is a strange, mysterious girl...**

**MylaUchiha: Okay! So happy you like!**

**Thoroughly Misguided: Thank you! I do my best! As for Sasuke...well, he's an Uchiha and they're a little oblivious when it comes to love.**

**Randomness-sama: I know the feeling! Hope you like!**

**Alaina Kuski: Thank you!**

* * *

**Tora**

"What's the distance from the target?"

"Five meters. I'm ready anytime." Sasuke said coolly.

"So am I." Kasumi sighed.

"Me, too." Naruto whispered.

"...Go!"

"Gotcha!" Naruto grabbed the cat with both hands, which let out a loud, startled meow.

"Ribbon on the left ear; are you sure this is the target, Tora?" Kakashi asked lazily.

"Oww!" Naruto wrestled on the ground with the cat, getting scratch marks all over himself. Just because the blonde's taijutsu was improving at an exceptional rate didn't mean he was getting better at handling cats. Kasumi watched with an indulgent grin while Sasuke reported back with an almost fond eye-roll.

"Yeah. We're sure."

"Good; Lost Pet 'Tora' Search Mission complete!" Their sensei declared.

**C-Rank**

Kasumi watched in sickening fascination as the Fire Country Lord's Wife Madam Shijimi got her cat back. And proceeded to squeeze it as hard as she could. "Ohh, my cute little Tora-chan. I was so worried."

She wasn't sure whether to feel vengeful joy or exasperated pity for the crying cat. She decided on the joy. The thing was a menace even if it did have sufficient reason to try and escape as soon as possible.

Naruto had no such hesitations. "Gyahaha! In your face, you stupid cat!"

Sasuke watched stoically, the smallest tinges of amusement in his obsidian eyes.

"Now... Kakashi's Team #7, your next duty is... Hmmm... babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighborhood village, and help with the potato digging." The Hokage read blandly off the list.

"NO! NO! NO! No, thank you!" Naruto resolutely crossed his arms in an X. "I want to do, you know, a more incredible mission! Find us a better one!"

'I agree...' Sasuke admitted reluctantly to himself.

'It is getting rather tedious...' Kasumi mused. She was aware that D-ranks were necessary and meant to build up a team's teamwork, but God, if it wasn't boring.

'I figured it was about time for this.' Kakashi sighed.

"You idiot! You are just a rookie!" In his agitation, Iruka bolted up from his seat to slam his hands against the desk. "Everyone starts off with the simple duties and works their way up!"

"But! But! We keep getting the crappiest duties!" Naruto protested.

Kakashi gave him a firm bop on the head. "Be quiet you!"

"Naruto! It seems I have to explain to you what these duties are all about!" The Hokage said in exasperation. "All ninjas..."

"... What are you guys going to eat tonight?" Naruto asked, plopping down on the floor and blatantly ignoring the Hokage's explanation.

"Probably some fried rice with peas and eggs." Kasumi went along with it. She _had_ paid attention in the Academy. There was no need for her to listen to this.

"I think I'm going to go out. Barbecue maybe?" Kakashi contributed, bored with the Hokage's rant. It wasn't like he didn't know the stuff.

"Hn. Tomatoes and onigiri." Sasuke added monotonously.

"Last night, I had pork ramen so miso sounds good for..." Naruto started, only to be cut off by the Sandaime who had finally noticed no one was paying attention.

"Hey! Listen!" A mark of irritation appeared on his forehead.

"I-I apologize." Kakashi said sheepishly.

Naruto wasn't anywhere near placated. "Geez! All you do is give lectures like that! But you know what?! I'm not the troublemaking brat you still think I am."

And to prove his point, he sat with his back turned towards them and his arms crossed and pouted.

Kakashi sighed. 'I'm going to get yelled at later for this...'

Shaking her head good-naturedly, Kasumi gently nudged Naruto with her foot. He gave her a pleading look. Sasuke gave him a 'you're-being-an-idiot' look that was pretty well-practiced by now. Naruto stuck his tongue out, but stopped pouting.

"Ok." The Hokage said to everyone's shock. "If you want it that much, I'll give you a C-rank mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual."

Kasumi blinked. Just like that?

Naturally, Naruto didn't bother to question it. "Yay!"

"Who?! Who?! A feudal lord? A princess?" He shouted randomly.

Kasumi smiled in amusement. Heavens no. With how advanced her team was right now, they'd probably get Konoha in a war before sundown.

"Calm down. I'm about to introduce him." The Hokage, the kunoichi noticed uneasily, had a... twinkle in his eye. She was instantly suspicious. A nagging, itchy feeling settled in the back of her mind.

"Hey, will you come in here?" He ordered.

The door opened and a strong smell of alcohol wafted in. "What's this?"

An old man with a bottle of sake stepped into the room and Kasumi frowned as the uncomfortable feeling grew. She recognized it and knew it meant nothing good. Nevermind that she hadn't felt it in years.

And why had the client been standing outside the door anyways? She blinked as realization hit her. The Hokage had meant to give them the mission all along! Making sure to keep a neutral expression, she observed the Sandaime through new eyes. Tricky old ninja.

Their client took a lazy swig of alcohol and said, "They're all a bunch of super brats. Especially the shortest one with the super stupid-looking face. Are you really a ninja? Hey!"

"Haha! Who's the shortest one with the stupid-looking face..." Naruto glanced around nervously.

Sasuke and Kasumi exchanged a look and, in unanimous agreement, smoothly slid in to both sides of Naruto for a quick height comparison.

First was Sasuke, unsurprisingly, and then there was Kasumi, and last was...

"I'll kill you!" Naruto lunged, but before he could get far, Kakashi grabbed his jumpsuit and held him back easily.

"What's the purpose of killing the person you're supposed to protect? Idiot!" He lectured sternly.

"But, Kakashi-sensei!" He protested, squirming in the older man's grip.

"Naruto-san." Kasumi warned simply and Naruto subsided, albeit with great reluctance. He aimed a blue-eyed glare at the drunken old man who scowled at them. Sasuke smirked.

"I am the super expert bridge builder, Tazuna." The old man said bluntly. "I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."

Kasumi sighed and placed a hand on her waist. The nagging feeling in the back of her mind was getting stronger and something was definitely wrong. How the hell had she managed to get in this much trouble in only the first few days of her genin career?

**Departure**

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

"Why are you so excited, Naruto-san?" Kasumi asked curiously, her mind on the empty house that had greeted her when she had went home to gather supplies.

Her older brother had been out on a mission again, A-rank this time and it was hard not to be worried - and so she had pinned a note to the table. It was habit by now. She had written that she had a C-rank mission to the Land of Waves and would, probably, not be back soon.

She had also added that she had a bad feeling about the mission and, doubtless, he would know what that meant. In their 'family', bad feelings were more like prophecies. Prophecies with bad endings.

Naruto grinned at her. "Cuz... I've never left the village before." He turned his head from side to side, taking in his surroundings.

"... Hey! Am I really going to be safe with this brat?" Tazuna demanded, pointing a finger at Naruto.

"Haha... well, I am a Jounin, so don't worry." Kakashi eye-smiled, his book not present for once.

"You really shouldn't worry." Kasumi added nonchalantly. "This is only a C-rank after all. I assure you we can handle bandits, no matter how strong they are." She twirled her finger around a stray strand of hair and kept her gaze squarely on his face.

She knew there was a reason she was feeling so uneasy and she was 99% certain it had to do with the shady bridge builder and his mission. Kasumi had never liked flying blind and that wasn't going to change now.

Both Naruto and Sasuke snapped their eyes to her, catching the edge to their usually even-tempered teammate's voice. They followed her gaze to frown at Tazuna.

The old man swallowed hard and took a swig of alcohol. A bead of sweat ran down his face and Kasumi's eyes narrowed.

Kakashi held up his hands. "Maa, maa, let's just get going for now."

"Hai, sensei." Kasumi replied compliantly.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes flickered between Tazuna and her suspiciously. She caught the wariness and caution in Sasuke's eyes while Naruto looked confused and a little worried. Kasumi considered it an improvement that the, normally oblivious, blonde had even caught on to the interaction. Maybe their lessons in observation were actually getting through.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her discreetly and she subtly shook her head. He frowned, but let it drop. Naruto squinted, but let it go as well.

"Okay! Let's start this mission!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically and started taking steps forward with a purpose.

"... Dobe, it's the other way." Sasuke told him bluntly.

Without pausing, Naruto turned right around and kept on going.

Kasumi smiled in amusement even as the nagging feeling in the back of her mind intensified. This was going to be bad.

**Attack**

Naruto walked down the road with a large smile, thoroughly enjoying the good day. The sky was blue, the sun was bright, and he was out of Konoha!

The trip so far had been pretty quiet. Kakashi was surprisingly not reading his book and the old geezer hadn't said a word. The teme had been quiet, but that wasn't anything new.

What was surprising was that Kasumi had been really quiet, too. Naruto frowned a bit, but dismissed his worries. He was sure it wasn't anything important. Maybe she was just enjoying the open air too!

Lost in thought, he didn't notice when they passed a small puddle on the road. What he did notice was the sudden tensing of his female teammate beside him. He glanced at her curiously.

Kasumi's face was blank and as Naruto watched, she lightly nudged Sasuke who's eyes flickered to her questioningly. She didn't answer his question, but gently took Naruto's hand and turned to him.

Naruto's brow furrowed. What was going on? Deep brown eyes that he was used to being filled with patience and serenity were bright with warning. She squeezed his hand lightly and put it on his shuriken holster. He paled. Was someone going to attack them? What the hell was going on?!

Without another word or action, Kasumi smoothly slid out between them and walked over to Tazuna. Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei dropped behind.

"Tazuna-san? What's this bridge that you're building?" Her voice was light, casual. But Naruto had been spending a lot of time with Kasumi-chan and he heard the lethal undertone in her question and this made him really, really, suspicious. And weird. He wasn't used to this side of Kasumi-chan.

"It's going to be used for importing food. The Gatou Shipping company is controlling the waters around my town and they're charging high taxes, leading to food shortage. It's why my task is so important." The drunken old geezer said and Naruto frowned. Something was going on here. He just didn't know what.

"I see-"

A rustle behind Naruto drew his attention and he spun around to see Kakashi-sensei being torn to pieces by two creepy looking dudes and their spiked chain.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

**Counter-Attack**

Naruto froze up.

Kasumi scowled and barked out, "Naruto-san! Clones, _now_!"

Already, Sasuke had thrown a barrage of shuriken at the chain, pinning it to some nearby trees.

Naruto, pale and shaken, automatically did the hand-seal and created several dozen clones. After training with each other for so long, he obeyed her orders without question. Kasumi considered it very useful in situations such as these.

"Long range. I don't want you anywhere near those claws." She told him firmly. Her mind was spinning, busy analzying the enemies. Had she seen them before? He nodded and sent the clones to assist Sasuke who had whipped out a kunai and firmly trapped the chain on the tree.

"Demon Brothers. Chunin. Kirigakure missing-nin. Known for poisonous attacks." Kasumi said mechanically to her teammates and quickly went through several hand-seals.

"Balance Disruption." She whispered under her breath, discreetly focusing her chakra on the two attackers.

Sasuke vaulted through the air and braced himself on the arm gauntlets to kick the missing nin in their faces. They quickly disengaged their chain and split up, only to meet up with a whole bunch of Naruto clones.

"Take this!" They shouted, throwing kicks and punches randomly. Not batting an eyelash, the two easily dispelled the most of the clones.

Kasumi made a mental note to work on Naruto's taijutsu a bit more. From the look on Sasuke's face, he agreed.

But... she could see her genjutsu was starting to take effect. The missing nin were starting to wobble, their blows losing valuable precision. More importantly, they were distracted and held in place by the Naruto clones which gave them time. And time was very important.

One glanced up at her and his eyes widened. "You-"

"Sasuke-san, now!" She ordered, images of mist and blood and destruction flashing through her mind. Her teammates didn't need to know.

"Got it!" Sasuke shouted back, blurring into motion.

He leaped onto one of the missing nin and before the distracted man could react, crashed the back of kunai straight on his head. He was out like a light. At that same instant, the other one broke free of the crowd of clones and headed straight at Kasumi and Tazuna.

She narrowed her eyes and waited. Dodging under the initial strike and forcing Tazuna backwards, she viciously struck a blow directly to the solar plexus. The enemy bent over, gasping for breath. She didn't hesitate in swiping her kunai over his neck.

He was dead before he hit the ground.

There was a heartbeat of silence that was broken by Tazuna running over to the bushes and throwing up.

**Reaction**

Sasuke eyed the mess critically and turned back to his teammates to gauge their response. It wasn't his first time seeing a dead body after all, but they might be different.

He completely missed how he wouldn't have bothered or even cared several weeks ago.

Naruto was obvious. The blonde was pale, his eyes wide, and he was trembling slightly. It was probably the first time the dobe had seen someone dead; much less take a part in the murder.

Kasumi was... more difficult to assess. Her face was blank, her eyes clouded as she stared at the man she had killed. He wondered whether she was just better at handling the situation than Naruto or if this wasn't the first time she had seen someone dead. Or even if this wasn't the first time she had killed someone.

"My, I must say that was quite impressive." An obnoxiously cheerful voice spoke up from behind Sasuke and he turned around to give Kakashi his best Uchiha Glare of Death. _Now_ that man chose to show up.

His sensei, utterly unscathed, beamed back at him. "Great job, Kasumi. You, too, Naruto and Sasuke."

The glare Kasumi gave him was the most poisonous expression Sasuke had ever seen on her. She turned away from the dead body and walked over to Naruto to enfold him in a hug. She patted his back and Sasuke found himself walking over to stand next to them as Kakashi talked to Tazuna, who still seemed to be in shock.

"Kasumi-chan..." Naruto said slowly, his eyes glued to the dead body and filled with horror.

"It was us or them, Naruto-san." Kasumi said. Her voice was calm and steely. As steely as her unflinching eyes. "It was us or them."

Naruto set his jaw and nodded. Silently, she let go of him and turned back to Kakashi.

"What now, sensei?" She asked.

**Secrets**

"Kasumi." Sasuke muttered later, dropping back to talk to the lagging girl.

She glanced at him, her eyes clearly distracted. "Yeah?"

"What was that jutsu you used on those missing nins?" He asked curiously.

"Oh." Kasumi blinked. "A low-rank genjutsu called Balance Disruption. As you can probably guess, it affects the victim's balance, causing them to stumble and skewer their attacks. Useful but normally not fatal. Takes time to take effect and becomes increasingly stronger as time goes on."

He frowned. "You've never used it on me or the dobe before."

"No." She confirmed. "It requires too much concentration for me to use in a one on one fight without some kind of elaborate distraction. Too risky. Plus it doesn't take effect immediately."

Sasuke furrowed his brow, but accepted her explanation. It didn't stop him from speculating over how many other things she might be keeping secret though.

**Boat**

"What a thick mist! I can't see ahead." Naruto commented, peering into the distance.

Kasumi said nothing, curled up into a ball behind him. Her knees were bent and she had her arms wrapped around them, her bangs shadowing her eyes. She knew Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei had taken note of her position, could feel their questioning eyes on her, but she couldn't help it.

This place reminded her too much of her homeland. She hadn't seen such a thick fog since _that_ day.

_"Run!"_

_"Go, my darlings! We'll be right behind you."  
_

_"You won't get away from us!"_

She tensed and closed her eyes. No, no, no. No. Not now!

Unconsciously, her nails dug into her palms, inflicting deep grooves. A light touch to her side bought her back to reality and she opened her eyes to meet Sasuke's observant ones. Kasumi could see a hint of concern in those obsidian orbs and he tilted his head to the side by five degrees. A question.

She shook her head just as casually.

He frowned but let it go. Kasumi wondered how long he would be content with that.

If nothing else, training with the Uchiha had taught her that what Sasuke wanted, he went after with near fanaticism.

* * *

_Next time:  
_

_Something large and sharp ripped through the air and crashed into a tree, biting deeply into the wood, barely missing their heads. And suddenly, there was a tall, lanky man standing on top of the monstrosity of a clever. One that she, unfortunately, recognized; he was quite famous, at least to her. The Demon of the Mist._

* * *

**Review~**

**Thanks to my beta ChaosEmperorNex!**

**Question: What's the best OC Naruto story you've ever read?**


	7. Zabuza

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

**Naruto: Hell yeah! You don't own me!**

**Me:...that's not what I really mean, but who cares? Merry Christmas, everybody! Check out my blog~**

**BloodMoonWanes: Sakura was a bit annoying in the beginning, wasn't she? As for Kasumi's past...who knows? *wink, wink***

**Bella-swan11: It's going to take a while before Kasumi and Sasuke get that level of trust between them. No worries, Kasumi won't let her team down too much. Thanks for the review!**

**starrat: Hope I don't disappoint! Thank you, hun!**

**Guest: Thanks!**

**Sammy: Right? I've always thought that it was kinda strange; no one from Team 7 really just helps Naruto. Thanks for the review!**

**zZhell-butterflyZz: Glad to know you like it! XD**

**forever-a i n e: Hmm, I'll have to check those out sometime. My favorite would probably be Clearing Mist by shadownumera. Beautiful story. The bold words was dividers sorta just came out of nowhere and stayed. Sasuke will be Sasuke, hmm? Thanks for the awesome review!**

* * *

**Zabuza**

By the time they got on land, Kasumi was ready to go crazy.

_Danger! Danger! Danger!_

She gritted her teeth and forced herself to squash that familiar small voice in the back of her mind. It wasn't helping her concentration. Kasumi was well aware that they were in danger and she knew, better than both of her teammates, that a wandering mind on the battlefield led to blank eyes and still hearts.

Kasumi made absolutely sure that both of her teammates were close to her, because as they got further and further inland, her danger sense grew stronger and stronger. They had handled themselves alright in their first true fight, but she did not want to lose Naruto and Sasuke through complacent folly when they were finally starting to get along.

Of course, she made sure that neither her body language nor her face betrayed her state of mentality or the alarm that was rushing through her veins.

They certainly didn't notice anything.

Well... Naruto tried. "There!" He screamed, throwing a kunai into the bush.

A second later, a startled and completely terrified white rabbit leaped out and crickets sounded in the silence.

"Whoops..." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously.

"Hn." Sasuke deadpanned. "Dobe, be more careful!"

"Like you know anything, teme!" Naruto retorted.

"At least I'm not a dead-last." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Boys..." She sighed and they turned away from each other, arms crossed. She knew that they weren't really mad or irritated each other; they were high-strung and their way of dealing with it was the normal banter they engaged in. Still, Kasumi needed to concentrate and she needed them to focus as well.

Finally, her warning sense _spiked._

"Down!" She screamed, grabbing Naruto and Sasuke and pulling them down with her, trusting Kakashi to get to Tazuna.

Something large and sharp ripped through the air and crashed into a tree, biting deeply into the wood, barely missing their heads. And suddenly, there was a tall, lanky man standing on top of the monstrosity of a clever. One that she, unfortunately, recognized; he was quite famous, at least to her. The Demon of the Mist.

Kasumi got to her feet, only distantly aware of Naruto and Sasuke doing the same. She eyed the bandaged man in front of her nervously. Of course, of course, they ended up facing _him_.

"Well.. well... if it isn't Kirigakure's Momochi Zabuza-kun." Kakashi said casually.

Next to her, Kasumi felt Naruto tense up. She glanced at him and grimaced. He was overconfident because of their earlier victory. Ignorant because she doubted he knew who Zabuza was. Not a great combination.

Before he could spring, she grabbed some of his fingers and twisted. She didn't bother being gentle.

Naruto stuttered to a halt, his face going pale with pain. He turned on her, obviously ready to complain, but snapped his mouth shut with an audible sound when she shot him a fierce glare. His eyes went wide with surprise, she had never _ever_ been stern with him, and worry. He was starting to understand the trouble they had gotten themselves into, but slowly. Too slowly.

Beside her, Sasuke gingerly eased closer. "Who is he, Kasumi?" He asked, his voice low and tense.

The boys had long since accepted her as the one they turned to if they didn't know something. Kasumi assumed it was because she was the most book smart, had the Bingo book, and read books whenever she had free time while they... didn't.

She pressed her lips together and answered in a voice just as quiet. "Zabuza Momochi. Demon of the Hidden Mist. Missing-Nin from Kirigakure. Once a part of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Anbu level."

Sasuke paled and Naruto went stiff.

Zabuza chuckled sinisterly. "Would you look at that? One of the brats knows who I am!" He suddenly narrowed his eyes at Kasumi. "Hmm, now that I think about it, you look a bit familiar..."

Blood, fire, and loving brown eyes flashed in Kasumi's mind. She bit her lip and resolutely forced the memories down.

Kakashi's demeanor didn't change but he reached for his forehead protector. "Maa. My cute little student isn't that one you should be worried about right now."

She wasn't sure whether he was redirecting the attention off of her purposely or not, but Kasumi was thankful nonetheless.

Her past was buried and buried it should and would stay.

Kasumi adamantly ignored the puzzled stares of her teammates. This didn't concern them.

**Trouble**

"Take Tazuna-san and run! You have no chance of beating him! As long as he's keeping me trapped in this prison he can't move!" Kakashi shouted. "The water clone cannot go very far from his body. Just run away now!"

Naruto grit his teeth. "Kasumi-chan?" He glanced towards his female teammate and Sasuke instinctively did the same.

She may not have been as strong as him or even as strong as Naruto was becoming, but sometime during their time together, Kasumi had become their de-facto leader.

Her mind could spit out multiple scenarios and plans in the span of a few heartbeats and she was the best strategist out of them all. It helped that she was never demanding and arrogant. The boys could listen to her and not feel as if she was stomping all over their male egos... not that they would phrase it in such a way. She directed them, made the plans and Sasuke and Naruto made sure those plans went smoothly.

Except now, Kasumi was still and silent. Her face was pale and drawn and she was staring at Kakashi and Zabuza blankly. Shadows screamed inside her normally tranquil brown eyes and she said nothing. Her fists were clenched and her chakra fluctuated unsteadily.

Naruto blinked and stepped closer, reaching up to touch a finger to her cheek. "Kasumi-chan...?"

"Aww." A mocking voice said and Sasuke spun around to see a clone form out of the water. "Is someone upset?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. If Zabuza wasn't who he was, he would have charged forward with a kunai right then and there. What right did he had to insult _his_ team?!

Naruto looked just as murderous.

"Run away! This fight was over the moment I was caught!" Kakashi ordered from where he was captured. "Our task is to protect Tazuna-san!"

Sasuke set his jaw and glanced at his unresponsive teammate. Fine. If Kasumi wasn't up to this, he would take up the mantle of leadership. "Not a chance. Our mission is to protect Tazuna and if we run now, he'll catch up to us effortlessly. There's no point. All we can do right now... is _fight_."

Kasumi and Naruto glanced at him. Naruto's blue eyes were filled with the same determination and resolve that he knew were reflected in his own. As always, Kasumi was harder to read. To his relief though, her clouded eyes seemed to be clearing up slightly. Sasuke did not need his one rational, intelligent teammate freezing up on him.

"How touching." The Zabuza clone jeered. "You can all die together."

Sasuke ignored him. Kasumi's words from the bell test echoed in his mind. _Teamwork is the foundation of Konoha._

"Naruto." The blonde looked back at him levelly. "Are you in?"

The dobe had the nerve to smirk. "Of course!"

"Kasumi." The cream-haired girl turned to stare at him, her eyes unreadable. "Are _you_ in?"

A pause of silence. And then slowly, ever so slowly, a dare-devil smile lit up her eyes. "Why.. the... hell... not?!" She responded, turning back to face the Zabuza clone.

He smirked. "Then let's do this."

**Resolve**

"Like we practiced." Kasumi told her teammates and they nodded. "Boys: long-range." She knew her teammates' strengths and weaknesses all too well.

"Haha." The laughter of the Zabuza clone startled them. Frowning, they glanced back at him. "Hahahaha!"

"You brats will never grow up." He spat condescendingly.

"What?" Naruto clenched his fists.

"Going to keep 'playing' ninja, eh?" He raised an open hand. "When I was about your age, these hands were already dyed red with blood."

Both Sasuke and Naruto gulped hard.

Kasumi bit her lip, but didn't otherwise react. Keep calm. She had to keep calm. Keep calm and betray nothing. Zabuza was already suspicious of her. She couldn't draw anymore attention to herself.

"Devil... Zabuza..." Kakashi muttered from inside the water prison.

"Ah... so you're heard a little about it." Zabuza smirked cruelly.

"Long ago, in the Hidden Mist Village, also called the Bloody Mist Village, there was a final obstacle in becoming ninja." Kakashi said.

"Hm...you even know about the graduating exam." Zabuza glanced idly at his captive.

"That exam?" Naruto questioned.

Kasumi tensed. Why was Zabuza telling them this? To scare them? Psychological warfare? To show them just how out of their league they were? She didn't need the reminder; she was well aware of how badly this could go. Either they would succeed through some major stroke of luck and a drop of skill or the grass would be watered with rivers of their blood.

"Hehehe," Zabuza began to chuckle sinisterly under his breath.

"What's this graduating exam thing?!" Naruto persisted.

Kasumi took in a shuddering breath and Sasuke glanced over at her. What the hell was going on?

"Fights to the death between the students!" Zabuza revealed, looking up with bloodthirsty eyes.

"..." Kakashi reluctantly started to explain. "Friends who have trained and eaten at the same table are pitted against each other and go at it until one of them loses his life. These are friends who had helped each other and shared dreams..."

The trio remained silent, but Kasumi's fingernails dug into her palms. She didn't want her teammates to hear this. They were so... innocent of the horrors of the world, despite how contradictory it seemed with who her teammates were. Sasuke had had a glimpse, but Naruto...

Naruto knew prejudice and hate, but he didn't know evil. Not evil like this.

"10 years ago, the Hidden Mist graduation exam was forced to change." He went on. "This change came after the previous year when a devil appeared."

"A devil?" Naruto repeated, unconsciously touching his stomach.

"Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a ninja, had killed over a hundred of the students." Kakashi finished to their horror.

"That.." Zabuza commented. "... sure was fun."

"Enough!" Kasumi suddenly snapped, eyes smoldering. They couldn't afford to waste time and they couldn't afford to lower their guards. Zabuza was powerful enough, fast enough that he could wipe them all out while they were sitting ducks listening to his horror stories. "Naruto-san, clones. Sasuke-san, go!"

It was a measure of how far they had come when they both unthinkingly obeyed.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto cried and created a ring of clones around the Zabuza clone.

Sasuke took off with a flicker of chakra, heading towards the real Zabuza.

"Che." The clone effortlessly swung his blade, dispelling several dozen clones.

Naruto had already set off after Sasuke. The clone smirked. Fools.

Kasumi stood guard before Tazuna, her eyes on the boys. They were getting closer to the water and she began to feel uneasy. Why wasn't Zabuza doing anyth-

_**'DOWN!'**_ A voice - her safety net, her now fully awake bloodline - screamed inside her head and before Kasumi had processed it, her body was already falling forward to land in a rough push-up position.

A large blade sliced through the air where her neck had been and just barely managed to scratch the back of her neck. She gasped at the realization the clone had gone straight through the Naruto clones and was _standing right behind her!_

"Kasumi-chan!" She heard Naruto scream.

"Damn." Sasuke hissed under his breath.

Blood trickled down her back and Kasumi was all but frozen with fright. She could feel the clone raising his sword, getting ready to swing it and finish her off. Naruto and Sasuke were too far away to help, Kakashi-sensei was trapped, and she couldn't, couldn't-!

_Have faith and let your bloodline protect you._

It was a mantra. One that had been instilled in her since birth. Now, in a moment of utter vulnerability and extreme danger, Kasumi found herself falling right back down onto that childhood quote. It settled over her like a reassuring blanket and suddenly, she could move again.

She withdrew into herself and the outside blurred against her senses. Time wasn't moving, the blade that would cleave her in half hadn't fallen down yet.

She reached down, down into her core and found her normal chakra. It was a soothing blue in her Sight and like chains, it was wrapped around a ball of amber. The amber glowed against her senses, a warm, comforting source of protection. Kasumi cupped it gently between her hands, relishing in the harmony. It had been a long time since she had done this. Since she had been forced to do this.

She took a pinch - "_not too much darling or you'll go too far," her mother had whispered _\- of her gloriously serene bloodline and let it flow through her body. It was far too easy to get caught up in that refreshing rush of power, like a near steaming hot shower in the dead of winter. But she forced herself to concentrate, and suddenly, time was moving again, and the blade behind her was falling, and Naruto was screaming her name, and Sasuke was staring at her with haunted, desperate eyes -

But this time, she knew what to do.

The blade's arc of trajectory flashed in her mind's eye. Pushing herself into a forward roll, she bought her chakra-enforced leg up and stopped the lethal blade. The impact hurt, damn near shattered her leg, but she didn't let the pain distract her.

"Concentrate!" She shouted to her teammates. Kasumi didn't know whether they obeyed or not, because the Zabuza clone was moving again.

Raising the giant blade, he tried to bring it crashing down on her once more. She sprang to her feet and dodged it lithely. Another slash followed and she grimaced when she was too slow and a deep slash appeared on her arm.

_'Stomach... the stomach...'_

Kasumi lashed out with her leg towards the clone's knee and when he dodged, followed it up with a chakra-enforced punch to the clone's stomach. She made sure to put all of her hard-won strength and weight behind it.

Her fist hit the clone hard and with a choked off sound, it melted into water.

Gasping for breath, Kasumi fell to her knees, craning her head back to see what her teammates were doing.

She was just in time to see Sasuke throw a large shuriken at Zabuza.

When Kakashi-sensei was free again, she grinned in exhausted triumph. Naruto really was such a genius when it came to plans on the battlefield.

**Worry**

"Kasumi-chan!" Naruto cried, running towards his fallen teammate.

What if she was hurt really bad? Oh God, look at her leg! He mentally beat himself up about not staying with her. He shouldn't have let her get hurt, dammit!

Sasuke followed, leaving Kakashi to deal with Zabuza. Though he wouldn't admit it, he was worried as well. He was also furious at himself for allowing such a thing to happen. For just a second, when Kasumi had been within range of that deadly sharp blade, he had seen - !

"I'm okay." Kasumi said reassuringly when they got close enough. "I'm okay."

Frowning, Naruto crouched beside her, Sasuke standing guard on the opposite side of him.

"Are you sure?" The blonde fussed, eyes wide and concerned.

"I'm sure." She patted his arm, turning back to see a... Kirigakure Hunter-Nin?

Kasumi's blood ran cold, her heart stuttering. It took her every ounce of control she had not to curl up in the fetal position.

Kasumi watched the man take away Zabuza's corpse and frowned. Something was wrong...

Beside her, Naruto blinked and Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Before she could dwell on it too long, Kakashi fainted and they had a brand new problem to take care of.

Kasumi sighed inwardly. What a 'C-rank' mission this was turning out to be.

* * *

_Next time:  
_

_"Kasumi..." He looked straight into her temperate brown eyes. "Have you killed before this mission?"_

* * *

**Review~**

**Take a look at my blog and Merry Christmas everybody!**

**Question: What do you think of Kasumi's bloodline?**


	8. Critical

**Me: Ah... well... Kasumi-chan?**

**Kasumi: Yes?**

**Me: *pleading look* Say it, please?**

**Kasumi: Hmm...**

**Me: Pretty please? **

**Kasumi: Hmm...**

**Me: Kasumi-chan!**

**Naruto: Hey! Stop bothering her!**

**Me: But, but, but...**

**Kasumi: *sigh* It's fine, Naruto-san. Author-san does not own Naruto, in any way, shape, or form.**

**Me: Yeah! What she said! Also... check out my blog? It's on my profile...**

**Kasumi: Happy New Year, everyone.**

**starrat: Goodie! Thanks for the review, sweetie!**

**MylaUchiha: You got it! Thanks for the review!**

**Almathia: Ah, she was a bit annoying in Part 1, wasn't she? Kasumi's bloodline...is a bit strange.**

**Guest: Oh, thank you! I'll do my best!**

* * *

**Hunter-Nin**

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked when their sensei had woken up in Tazuna's house. His students were gathered around his bedside in a semi-circle while Tazuna sat nearby. A pretty woman stood near the doorway. 'Probably Tazuna's daughter,' Kakashi deduced.

Kakashi looked at his strangely subdued student, feeling his weary body protest the movement. He ignored it with the help of years of experience in war and battle. "Yes, Naruto?"

Naruto frowned, bright cerulean eyes cloudy with confusion. "That hunter-nin that came to take Zabuza away..."

Kakashi blinked, only barely hiding his surprise from his adorable little students. Out of all of them, he had never expected Naruto to bring up or even notice the hunter-nin issue. He himself had realized it only a few minutes ago.

He glanced at his other students to see how they were taking the news. Sasuke didn't seem bewildered or jealous at all, a far cry from the aggravation Kakashi expected to see.

Kasumi's face was perfectly blank as it had been since he had woken up. His female student sat closest to his make-shift bed, her legs bent and her arms wrapped around them. The position reminded Kakashi of how she had looked on the boat as they had traveled to Wave.

It had been then - with mist surrounding them and danger pulsing in the air - that Kakashi had fully realized just what the Land of Waves meant for her. He had cursed himself out, but hadn't been able to do anything about it; they had already arrived. Now, at the very least, she didn't seem shocked by Naruto's sudden jump in intellect.

In fact, it was almost as if his cute students had been expecting it.

Kakashi subtly narrowed his eyes. His students were turning out to be such a surprise today.

First, they had reacted and worked together so well against the Demon Brothers, something he would have thought impossible a few weeks ago; their dynamic had been incredibly skewered.

Then, Kasumi had gone ahead and killed one of them. Sasuke's reaction he expected, Naruto's reaction he understood. But, his female student... the way she reacted had been completely unexpected. The apathy and steel will he had seen had been more akin to that of a seasoned chunin than a fresh genin.

Next, Naruto and Sasuke had managed to force Zabuza, an Anbu ranked missing nin, to let go of the Water Prison with a plan that Naruto - the loudmouth, knucklehead prankster - had made up on the spot. Kasumi had destroyed a water clone of said missing nin by herself and had done so through pure taijutsu, an aspect that he knew was not her strongest point.

And now, Naruto was the first one that pointed out the subtle issue with their most recent fight and Sasuke and Kasumi weren't surprised. Sasuke hadn't tried belittle him and not only that, Naruto was right. The dead-last of the Academy was right in a textbook sort of problem. What the hell was going on here?

Careful not to let any of his thoughts show on his face, Kakashi probed. "What about it, Naruto?"

The normally hyperactive blonde glanced uncertainly at Sasuke. For reassurance. In response, Sasuke gave a barely noticeable nod and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "dumpster."

Kakashi's eyebrow twitched. Naruto was asking Sasuke for help. Sasuke was giving help without a hint of scorn. Had the apocalypse come when he wasn't paying attention?! Was he hallucinating?

Apparently satisfied, Naruto turned back to Kakashi and said, "Isn't it weird that the hunter-nin carried Zabuza away? Don't they normally kill missing nin on the spot and bring back the head as proof they did their job?"

Kakashi paused, momentarily confused by Naruto's wording. 'Proof they did their job...?' He repeated to himself, trying to make sense of the phrase. 'What is he comparing killing to..?'

Shaking it off, Kakashi nodded to his cute mysteries of students. "Yes. It is most likely that Zabuza is still alive and that hunter-nin is his accomplice."

Naruto looked absurdly pleased; though given his track record in the Academy, it probably wasn't too strange. Kakashi could see the exact moment it occurred to the blonde that that meant Zabuza was still a threat. His face went pale as a sheet and his eyes went wide, sweat rolling down his face. In any other situation, it would have been hilarious.

"Eeehh?!" Tazuna scowled, taking a heavy swig of his sake. "Are you sure you aren't just overthinking this?"

In the doorway, the old man's daughter shifted uneasily.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, the weapon of attack was a simple needle and with sufficient knowledge of anatomy, it is easy to put someone in a state of suspended death."

Sasuke grunted. "Then it's most likely they'll come back." The Uchiha's fear was much more concealed than Naruto's was, but the jounin could see it in the tense lines of the teen's body.

"Yes." Kakashi shifted slightly, gritting his teeth at the sharp pain that spiked through his stomach. "We must prepare for the upcoming battle."

**Inari**

"You shouldn't bother." A new voice said, this one younger and higher. A young boy, not much older than 7 or 8 walked in the doorway.

Naruto frowned, pointing a finger at him. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Naruto-san." Kasumi spoke up at last, voice gently reprimanding if a little colder than usual. "Pointing is rude."

Naruto pouted, but dropped his arm compliantly.

"Ohh! Inari! Where were you?!" Tazuna cried, throwing his arms open.

Ah. Their client's grandson then.

"Welcome back, Grandpa." Inari said calmly, climbing on top of the stair.

"Inari, say hello to these people." The boy's mother said, hands on her hips, as Inari hugged Tazuna. "They are ninjas who protected Grandpa."

Naruto stared, Sasuke looked on disinterestedly, and Kasumi simply watched.

Inari all but glared at them, before suddenly turning to his mother. "Mom... they are going to die." He said bluntly, pointing a finger at them much like Naruto had done.

The blonde immediately freaked out, jumping to his feet in anger. "What did you say, you little brat?!" He screamed.

"There's no way you can win against Gatou." Inari said flatly.

Kakashi frowned thoughtfully from behind his mask. He had seen a depression like that on many a people. It was someone who had given up, given up so completely they refused to believe in anything else. They would rather give up than hope and have that hope crushed. 'This little boy,' he thought to himself. 'has lost someone very important to him to Gatou.'

Naruto looked like he was two seconds away from punching Inari. "Why you-!" He snarled, sliding into a combat stance.

In the corner of his eye, Kakashi saw Sasuke glance at Kasumi, an odd sort of expectation in his dark eyes. When she did nothing but continue to watch, Sasuke frowned, frustration flashing in his eyes for a moment. Turning back to Naruto, he uttered a sharp, "Dobe."

When Naruto paused to look back at his rival, the Uchiha shot him a cool, arrogant look. "Leave it. He's just a kid."

Naruto continued to frown, but dropped out of his combat stance to glare at Inari. Kakashi watched the interaction and wondered at it. From what he could understand, Sasuke had expected Kasumi to rein in Naruto. It was understandable considering she normally did, but why was the Avenger upset when she didn't? For that matter, why had Naruto listened to Sasuke? Since when had Naruto ever listened to Sasuke!?

"Hey, Inari! Listen!" Naruto shouted at the younger boy. "I am a super hero who will one day become an incredible ninja called Hokage! I don't know this Gatou guy, but he's nothing compared to me!"

"Pft." Inari laughed bitterly. "What are you, stupid? There's no such thing as a hero!"

"What!?" Naruto roared, face red and sliding once again into a combat stance.

"Naruto-san." Kasumi said. Nothing else, just a simple call of the boy's name in a tone that was highly reminiscent of a disappointed caretaker. Naruto grimaced and turned to shoot the girl a pleading glance.

She stared back without flinching and the blonde gritted his teeth, but plopped himself down on the floor again.

"What are you, a dog?" Inari taunted, eyes full of dark disdain. "She calls you and you obey?"

"You brat!" Naruto hollered, but before he could get on his feet once more, Sasuke halted him with a sharp look.

"Who do you think you are anyways?" The boy went on, this time directed at Kasumi. "His mother?!"

Kasumi gazed back at him levelly, face unchanging from its blank, serene mask. "I think," She said, her voice broken shards and razor blades in a way that her team had never heard before, "that you are a child who is afraid to grow up."

She didn't raise her voice, but Inari rocked back as if she had slapped him. His mother drew in a sharp breath and Tazuna's eyes widened. Kakashi noted their reactions, came to the conclusion that she had hit the bulls-eye with her simple statement.

"Yeah, well, what do you know?!" The boy shrieked at her, his deadpan expression shattering like so much glass. Tears gathering in his eyes, he spun around, slamming open the doors. He yelled over his shoulder, "If you don't want to die, leave!" and ran out.

"Inari!" The boy's mother cried out, running after her son.

Silence reigned in the room. Tazuna stared after his family sadly. Sasuke and Naruto, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less about Inari at that moment. They were both staring at Kasumi, stunned by the absolute brutality of her words. To them, she had never been anything but kind, patient, and understanding. To see her cut down a child as surely as if she had done so with a blade with nothing but thirteen words and a merciless voice... was a shock.

Throughout the commotion, Kasumi's face didn't waver from its impassive, unreadable mask. Kakashi was starting to worry about his female student. Bottling everything up, well, he knew from personal experience tended to backfire. He was also a jounin - had been an Anbu - and he couldn't read Kasumi at all except for the fact that she was upset. It didn't bode well.

"Sorry about that." Tazuna said finally. He got to his feet with a groan and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him as he did.

Another few moments of silence passed, before Kasumi pushed herself smoothly to her feet. "You need to rest, Kakashi-sensei." She said simply, voice carefully neutral. Gliding across the wooden floor, she reached out to open the doors.

"Yeah..." Kakashi grimaced as another skewer of pain shot through his back. "But before that..."

Kasumi paused and glanced over her shoulder.

Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his white hair. He didn't want to ask this, much less so soon after Zabuza and the Demon Brothers, but he needed to know. If he was to teach Kasumi, he needed to know.

"Kasumi..." He looked straight into her temperate brown eyes. "Have you killed before this mission?"

Naruto gasped, eyes snapping wide open. He whirled around to stare first at Kakashi, _how could you ask Kasumi-chan something like that?_, and then at Kasumi, _tell him he's wrong!_.

Sasuke stilled, focusing intently on Kasumi. He had wondered about that too, but hadn't wanted to ask her the question. He may have been rude and abrasive and condescending, but he knew what limits he should push and what limits he shouldn't. That had most certainty been one he wouldn't have touched with a ten-foot pole.

Purely because he was watching her so closely, Kakashi caught the whiplash of darkness that entered her eyes. A mere second later, Kasumi smiled, bright and happy and sweet, her eyes fluttering closed. She looked the picture of an innocent young girl, untouched by blood and death.

"Of course I have, Kakashi-sensei. Why did you ever think otherwise?" She said in a voice so light and airy you would have thought she was having fun at a carnival.

As Naruto's face filled with horror and sadness and Sasuke's nails dug into his palms, Kakashi doubted for the first time, filled with a numb sort of horror, just how much he saw was the true Kasumi and how much was the mask of happiness and contentment that she wore like a second skin.

And then he wondered if anyone truly _knew_ the tragedy that was his female student and not merely the outer layers of the mist she wove around her like her namesake.

It was a depressing sort of thought... depressing and quite sad.

**Past**

Sasuke... didn't know what to think.

He had always, in some part of his mind, small and barely acknowledged, known that Kasumi had already seen death and blood previous to the Academy. Her eyes were too much like his own, too dark and _clear_. She had seen the horrors of the world, looked at it with no rose-colored glasses. There had been no way she had been as naive as their other classmates.

On the other hand, she was his teammate, his sparring partner. It made him strangely uncomfortable to know she had been forced to take a life in the past, for he understood her well enough to know that Kasumi did not _hurt_ unnecessarily, much less kill. He hadn't even killed anyone yet, though not for lack of desire, and Sasuke...

Sasuke was meant to be the dark one in their team, the one who had endured pain and torture, so long as Naruto and Kasumi remained light. It was his job to protect them and he hadn't been able to, for Kasumi had danced with the abyss long before they had ever become a team.

"...Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto piped up, voice unusually soft.

Sasuke glanced over at the dobe and found him staring after Kasumi, face serious and eyes sad.

"What is it, Naruto?" Kakashi replied.

"What..." Naruto hesitated. "What did Kasumi-chan mean by that?"

Kakashi stared thoughtfully at the closed door. "It's not my place to say, but..."

He sighed and ran a hand through his silver hair. "Even among this team," He revealed. "Kasumi-chan's past is considered tragic."

Startled, Sasuke and Naruto traded looks. He had gone through the Uchiha Massacre and he knew the blonde had gone through his childhood lonely and neglected.

What had happened in Kasumi's past that had been worse?

* * *

_Next time:_

_She looked like someone lost in the darkness, with no one to cling on to, and without anyone to light her way._

* * *

**Please, please, please review? Check out my blog!**

**Oh, and Happy New Years!**

**Question: What's your favorite Naruto OST?**


	9. Rain

**Me: Naruto does not belong to me!**

**Naruto: Why would I belong to you?**

**Me: Everything belongs to Kishimoto-sama!**

**Naruto: Wait, who's he?**

**Me: Review replies are on the bottom! Please take a look at my blog - link is on my profile - and enjoy~**

**Naruto: OI! STOP IGNORING ME!**

**Me: *runs off into the sunset* Lalalalala, I can't hear you!**

* * *

**Blood**

_"Run!" Okaa-san screamed to her. She sounded desperate, so desperate. "Run!"_

_Kasumi gasped for air, her short legs burning with exertion. She could barely draw breath; her lungs felt like they were on fire. Her teeth darted out to worry her bottom lip, and she almost tripped over a root. Branches groped for her, hitting her face and stinging her cheeks. She ignored the pain. Not important, not important..._

_Shadows blurred in the mist and oh God, she could feel them breathing down her neck. Their gelid exhalations ran shivers down her spine, chilled her to the bone._

_Run. Run. Run. Faster. Faster. Always faster. Can't stop, won't stop._

_Kasumi ran and ran until she didn't know where she was. Valiantly fighting back tears, the child that was she spun around in circles, but couldn't see anything, boxed as she was by fog and blood. Her small body was shaking, and she could have sworn that she heard the sorrowful wail of damned souls; the cry of death itself. _

_She sucked in a shuddering breath, her heart beating so hard that it felt like it would burst from her chest. She resisted the growing urge to call out for her loving parents and her protective brothers. "You can't make a sound." Otou-san had whispered to her and so she tried to be quiet, so quiet.  
_

_Footsteps - distant - sounded behind her. Despite herself, she stopped breathing for a short, painful second._

_Whirling around automatically, she tried to peer through the fog with no success._

_The footsteps were getting closer. They were close, too close._

_Just barely managing to wrench her breathing and heart rate under control, Kasumi tried to decide on what to do. She was supposed to wait for her family to come find her, she knew that, but if she stayed, the bad men would catch her!_

_Closer and closer - they were right behind her - what was she supposed to DO?! -_

_She twisted around and met the blank mask of a Kirigakure Hunter-Nin. _

"Kasumi!"

Gasping, she wrenched her eyes open and shot upright. Darkness greeted her, darkness and cautious black eyes. Freezing completely, Kasumi rapidly scanned her surroundings as instinct and danger had taught her through crimson and smoke.

She was... in a small, relatively simple room. It was night - that explained the darkness -, the only illumination the dim moonlight that shone through the half-open window. She was sitting on a small cot and... Naruto was snoring a few feet away, blonde hair bright in the shadows like a living metaphor of his status in the blood-stained world of ninjas. Sasuke knelt next to her, face blank but a trace of concern in his dark, dark eyes.

Kasumi stared monotonously at her teammate, not saying a word. She pursed her lips, unconsciously wiping her face clean of emotion while she was at it. She wasn't telling him anything, if that was what he expected. It wasn't happening, especially not now, when she was feeling so very vulnerable.

It was Sasuke who broke the silence. "You were having a nightmare." He said it slowly, a statement, an explanation, and a question all in one, as probably only he could.

She kept her face vacant, unreadable. "Thank you, Sasuke-san."

They were many ways he could have taken that, but he just nodded in response. Rising to his feet, he paused and glanced at her. "...we wouldn't reveal your secrets." It was as much of a reassurement as the Uchiha could give.

Kasumi let a ghost of a smile touch her lips. It was sweet of him to try, but she knew better than to give others her secrets. Promises were broken, vows forgotten, bonds cut. Nothing, but nothing lasted forever and the ones who tried to hold on were the ones that eventually dangled over the edge of steep cliff with no ground in sight. "Go to sleep, Sasuke-san. Morning will come soon enough."

He knew better than to push and settled down on his own mattress, silent. It wasn't as if he didn't have his own secrets.

**Training**

"Alright!" Kakashi said a day later, held up by crutches. "Time to get you three ready for Zabuza!"

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, but his normally enthusiastic cry was half-hearted. Sasuke simply gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look and Kasumi was indecipherable as ever.

Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh. Since the conversation after he had woken up, things had been tense between his students. Naruto didn't know how to treat Kasumi anymore, Sasuke was aggravated, but over what, no one knew, and Kasumi seemed to have retreated so deep into herself that she didn't contribute anymore than necessary. It was almost as bad as when they had first been made a team.

"Well, you all know tree-climbing and water-walking right?" He asked, deciding to be as cheerful and nonchalant as ever in hopes of things working out between the three of them. Kakashi wasn't fully aware of all the training his cute students had been doing, but he was aware of some of the things as suited an experienced jounin... who was not so experienced with teaching.

"Yosh! Me and the teme mastered water-walking a week ago!" Naruto informed him, perking up a bit. Sasuke grunted in agreement and Kasumi maintained her silence, merely nodding assent.

"Hmm..." Rubbing his chin thoughtfully - which was difficult what with the crutches and all, but Kakashi managed because he was just that awesome - he pondered over what would most likely cheer his students up. It wouldn't do for their teamwork to remain as awkward as it was; the only reason they had managed to 'win' was because of their cooperation last time.

"Okay!" Reaching into his shinobi pouch, Kakashi smirked. This would certainly do the trick! "You guys are going to be learning some new jutsu!" And he whipped out four pieces of paper.

"That?!" Naruto deadpanned, staring at the sheets of paper in a disbelieving manner. "Those are just pieces of paper!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, looking equally skeptical.

Kasumi blinked, a whisper of surprise touching her eyes. Out of the three of them, she seemed to be the only one who knew what the 'pieces of paper' were.

Kakashi shook his head at his male genin. "These aren't 'just' regular sheets of paper. These are sheets of chakra paper."

"Chakra paper?!" Naruto repeated, brow furrowing but visibly more excited. The mere mention of chakra was enough to interest him. Sasuke and Kasumi, however, were much harder to impress.

"Hai. This was made from a special kind of tree and it reacts to even the slightest touch of chakra." Kakashi said. "For example..."

He took one piece of paper in between his fingers and channeled a bit of chakra through it. It wrinkled instantly and he smiled in satisfaction at the look of awe on Naruto's face. Sasuke looked intrigued, eyeing the crumpled paper with interest. Kasumi's face remained blank, to his concealed frustration.

"My chakra affinity is lightning." He went on. "With lightning, the paper will wrinkle, as you can see. With fire, it will ignite and turn to ash. Wind; the paper will split in two. Earth; the paper will turn to dust and crumple away. And with water, the paper will become wet and damp."

Naruto frowned, brow furrowing, scratching his head. "Eeeh? But, Kakashi-sensei, you've used jutsus that aren't lightning based!"

Kakashi inwardly raised an eyebrow. Either Naruto really was improving in the intellect department or he had been more ignorant than he thought. He took in the faintly visible satisfaction in Kasumi's eyes and Sasuke's smirk and decided that the former was probably correct.

"You aren't bound by your chakra affinity, Naruto." He explained patiently. "Certainly, your element will be easier to use, but you can use other jutsus as well."

"Oh." Naruto digested that before sticking his hand out, fingers outstretched expectantly. "Come on then! Give the super, duper, special paper to us!"

Kakashi sweatdropped. 'Super, duper, special paper...?' Maybe the blonde needed a little more work on his maturity. Or, at least, on his vocabulary.

Obligingly, Kakashi handed out the chakra papers and watched Naruto turn eagerly to his teammates.

"Ready?" He asked, cerulean blue eyes bright.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, coolly amused. "Are you sure _you're_ ready, dobe?"

"Shut up, teme!" Naruto shouted.

"Boys." Kasumi intercepted smoothly. When they turned to her, Naruto in indignation and Sasuke in arrogance, she gave them a calmly composed look. "Are we going to do this or not?"

Naruto grumbled, Sasuke grunted, and Kasumi sighed, but they closed their eyes and channeled their chakra through the paper carefully.

A moment later, Naruto's paper split and the edges of the two pieces crumbled to dust, Sasuke's paper wrinkled and burst into small flames, and Kasumi's paper turned damp and split halfway across.

They stared at each other in consideration. Kasumi, in particular, looked like she was already analyzing them, taking in the information and storing it in her brain for later.

"Well!" Kakashi said merrily. "It looks like Naruto's major affinity is wind with a minor one for earth, Sasuke's is lightning and fire, and Kasumi's is water and wind."

"Now that we know your affinities..." He eye-smiled at them. "We can get to the jutsu!"

"How are you going to do that?" Sasuke asked bluntly, wasting absolutely no time in beating around the bush. "There's only one of you."

Kakashi chuckled and waved his hand dismissively, almost dropping his crutch. "You forget, Sasuke, that I'm also a ninja."

Bringing up his hands into a familiar seal, he quickly created two shadow clones. "Now, off with you all!"

**Lightning**

"Alright, Sasuke." The Kakashi bunshin said, stopping the dark-haired boy in a clearing away from the others. "I'm going to be teaching you the Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder."

Sasuke raised a single, telling brow and the bunshin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know the name sounds silly. But, nonetheless! This technique allows the user to release a wave of electricity from their hands. It's ideal for it to be used in conjunction with water." The Kakashi clone gave him a significant look.

Oh. Sasuke got it. "With Kasumi's water jutsu and all of this water surrounding us..."

"Yes. These are very ideal conditions." Kakashi confirmed. "Listen carefully, now. You won't be able to completely master it in the time we have, but you'll probably be able to produce a small current capable enough of paralyzing your opponent. It's boar, ram, snake, horse, and dragon."

Sasuke nodded, quiet determination replacing the bored light in his eyes.

The Kakashi clone eye-smiled. "Excellent!" And then he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Sasuke's eye visibly twitched. "Kakashi..." He growled under his breath. "You lazy bastard."

**Wind**

"Okay, Naruto!" The Kakashi clone led the blonde to a tree. "Are you ready?"

"Of course I am!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist in the air, looking fiercely determined to master whichever jutsu his teacher threw at him. "Believe it!"

The jounin eye-smiled, wistfully reminded of a red-headed woman with that same passion in her heart, not that he let it show. "Good!"

"I'm going to be teaching you the Wind Release: Gale Palm." The clone announced. "This technique actually doesn't have any hand-seals."

"Eeeh?" Naruto furrowed his brow. "How am I supposed to use it then?"

"You clap your hands together, compress wind, and transform it into a large gale." He said. "I would demonstrate... but as you can see, I can't use my hands right now!"

"Than how am I supposed to do it?" Naruto screamed in frustration.

The minion clone sweatdropped. "Maa, maa, patience, little grasshopper. Patience."

The Uzumaki glared. From the looks of it, Sasuke had taught the blonde his signature death glare sometime ago. The malignancy in his gaze could kill.

"Okay, okay!" He raised his hands, as much as he could, from his crutches. "Think of it like this. You're gathering wind chakra to your hands, compressing the wind around you, and then releasing it at your opponent."

Naruto blinked, frowned.

"Well." The Kakashi clone raised a hand. "Good luck. Ja ne." And poof he went.

Naruto stared dumbly at the space the clone had occupied, his eyes bulging out of his head. And then:

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

**Water  
**

"Alright, now, Kasumi-chan! I will be teaching you a water ninjutsu today." Kakashi said to Kasumi, back in the original clearing.

She nodded, tensing slightly. "Which one?"

He politely pretended he hadn't noticed her reaction, although he certainly had. "I'm going to be teaching you the Water Release: Black Rain Technique."

Kasumi paused, her brown eyes sparkling with a hint of interest. "I've heard of that jutsu. It's a supplementary jutsu with fire, right?"

Kakashi eye-smiled at her; it seemed like his cute student was recovering from her melancholy. Maybe. Hopefully she would open up completely... in good time. "Yup! Do you know why?"

She considered that, unconsciously tilting her head to the side. "If that hunter-nin truly was Zabuza's accomplice, he is most likely from Bloody Mist, as well." She said slowly. "And that means he is most likely well versed in water jutsu. With the wind jutsu you are teaching Naruto, as well as my own, this may be able to supplement Sasuke's fire jutsu enough that we will be able to combat any water techniques that are thrown at us."

"Very good analysis," Kakashi praised. It looked like she was on her way to becoming a member of the Intelligence Division, already. She had an extraordinary mind and eye for detail. "This jutsu will create a flammable black mist that forms a small cloud. You can, then, maneuver it above your opponent and disperse it, covering the target in flammable oil. Ignite it with either a fire jutsu or an exploding tag, and you're set."

"I see." Kasumi thought that through carefully. Strategizing. Planning. "The hand seals?"

"Ram, snake, tiger." He listed rapidly.

She pinned him with a steady gaze, brown eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly. "I suppose you'll run away now, Sensei?"

Kakashi laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Ahh... about that..."

Kasumi simply shook her head and went for her first attempt at the new jutsu. She knew better than to think she would be able to master it easily.

**Rain**

Sasuke grunted in annoyance and shoved his wet hair out of his eyes.

As the sun had fallen beyond the horizon, the heavens had opened up and poured cold, relentless rain on the bleak earth, thoroughly soaking the exhausted genin.

Pressing his lips together in annoyance, Sasuke decided that enough was enough. He wanted to master the jutsu badly, hadn't managed to create more than a few sparks, but getting sick wasn't worth it.

Running a hand through his spiky hair, he set off towards the bridge-builder's house, quick eyes rapidly taking in his surroundings. There didn't seem to be anything abnormal... but for three days, before this mission, Kasumi had decided it was a good idea to have stealth and traps training.

Naruto, of all people, had so thoroughly beaten their asses, that Sasuke remained profoundly paranoid, and considering their current situation, that was probably a good state to be in.

A few minutes of walking later, he came upon the clearing they had originally gathered in and froze, leaning against a nearby tree.

Kasumi stood in the center, completely wet and absolutely still. She had her face turned up towards the skies, apparently ignoring the water droplets splashing onto her skin. The clearing around her looked exactly the same, with the exception of a few black drops of what looked strangely like oil, making it clear that she hadn't gotten very far in mastering her new jutsu either.

But, it was her expression that caught Sasuke's attention and held it. Gone was the unconcerned, serene mask that she had worn since they had arrived at Tazuna's house and something much more different had replaced it. There, in the rain, Kasumi looked... lost. That was the best word he could come up with to describe that look on her face.

She looked like someone lost in the darkness, with no one to cling on to, and without anyone to light her way.

"Did you know," Kasumi said conversationally, almost casually, "that our pasts are not so different, after all, Sasuke-san?"

Sasuke's hand on the tree bark clenched. He wasn't surprised she had known he was there; she _was_ the most observant and intelligent one of their team. Her question, though...

He didn't know what to say to her question. For the longest time, he had believed that no one had gone through what he had, that no one could possibly understand. To some extent, he still believed that. But, he remembered what Kakashi had said, too, that day after Inari's outburst.

"Is that so?" He replied at last, keeping his onyx eyes on female teammate.

Her lips quirked vaguely, but she didn't turn to face him. Instead, she reached up with her hand towards the crying skies, palm open as if she could catch the raindrops. The teardrops kissed her fingers, ran down her palm.

Strands of her soft hair had fallen out of her bun to frame her face, her simple green shirt and black pants slicked over her petite frame. The remaining dusk light shone over her face, highlighting her pale skin and bringing her brown eyes to swirling lagoons of deep chocolate.

It was a... striking scene, Sasuke admitted reluctantly. Any artist would be overjoyed to paint such a display.

Yet, he couldn't help but find it almost unbearably sorrowful.

"Yes." Kasumi whispered into the quiet. Her eyes, bittersweet chocolate, melancholy, wistful, said everything her voice did not. "This world is a cruel place, no?"

* * *

_Next time:_

_Sasuke stepped closer, his body heat touching her back intimately. She did her best not to flinch. She hadn't realized how cold she was until now._

* * *

**Kyaa! So many review! Thank you everyone!**

**starrat: Thank you for reviewing, hun! Hope you enjoyed!**

**Miss Luny: Er... no, I don't think so. Thanks for the review, though!**

**MapleXMystery: Oh, thank you! I'm happy you like it! Thanks for reviewing!**

**m: Thank you! I'll do my best~**

**Hinata18809: Thank you, thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**animemangaobsessed: Good to know! Thanks for reviewing, hun!**

**OrchidWonderland: Wonderful! I will do my best!**

**Thoroughly Misguided: Lolz. Kakashi will figure things out sooner or later, ne? Thanks for the review, dear!**

**vvheng0628: Aww! Thank you!**

**Bella-swan11: Ah, it'll probably take some more time for Sasuke to put aside his pride. We all know how stubborn he is! Thanks for the review!**

**lifethroughanotherseyes: Oh, I'm sorry! OST is official soundtrack. You're right, I haven't thought up to the Chunin Exams, yet. Thank you so much for the offer though! If I do need a character like that, you'll be the first place I ask. :3 Thanks for the review, hun!**

**DocAmburgey: You got it! Thanks for the review!**

**michi-nin: Oh, thank you! Hope you enjoyed~**

**Yuri Tora: And the folding continues... but at least, Sasuke's noticing! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Randomness-sama: I love Wind! And Immortals! You have awesome music taste! Thanks for the review!**

**ArtRat: Thank you! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for the review, dear!**

**SilverNeira: Lolz, I'm trying to keep away from that plotline and the classic Mary Sue. Thanks for the review!**

**1XxKiraXx1: Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're making me blush! I am doing my best to keep Team 7 in character, but Kasumi is messing the interactions a bit, isn't she? Lolz, thanks for the wonderful review, hun!**

**Question: Ideas about Kasumi's past, anyone?**

**Thanks to my wonderful betas! Please review and take a visit to my blog~**


	10. Spector

**Me: I do not own Naruto**

**Kasumi: Why would you own Naruto-san?**

**Me: Um...**

**Kasumi: Well...**

**Me: Uh...**

**Kasumi: Is there something you aren't telling me, Author-san?**

**Me: Eek! Reviews at bottom, check out my blog, enjoy! *runs away***

**Kasumi: o.O?**

* * *

**Reasons**

Kasumi didn't know what she was doing.

She didn't why she had reacted that way to Inari, why she had answered Kakashi-sensei like she had, why she was retreating from everyone and everything.

She didn't know why she was breaking down her team.

Kasumi made it a habit to observe other people. She'd done it since she was a child; she didn't even remember why it was a habit even more. It simply was. She had the feeling that when she had been a toddler, it had been drilled into her by her parents, along with many other things. They had adopted the motto 'better safe than sorry' and turmoil had already been brewing underneath the surface, even back then.

The following blood-stained years had only pounded that habit into her subconscious and she had further expanded on it in her Academy years. Kasumi's mind naturally absorbed information like a sponge and she could regurgitate it on cue. Most of her classmates had had no idea she had been observing their strengths, weaknesses, and temperaments, as well as calculating how they would be advantageous for her later on.

Since she had been placed into Team 7, she had watched her teammates. Of course, she had already watched Naruto and Sasuke for years in the Academy, but they had been two in twenty. Now, she saw them daily.

She knew that Naruto was _special_, that he was that one in a million that might be able to change the world. She knew that his childhood had been hell, knew that he suffered from inferiority and loneliness even now. She knew that he had heart and determination and light that would shine through the centuries.

She knew that Sasuke balanced precariously on the line between darkness and light, that the slightest push could decide where he would drown. She knew that his potential was vast, knew that he chased after his brother with a mixture of love and hate. She knew that he hid protectiveness and care behind his cold demeanor.

She knew that Kakashi-sensei had lost in the past, that he suffered from bruises on his heart. She knew that he was one of the most well-known ninja in the world, knew that he had been the Fourth Hokage's student. She knew that his nonchalant, carefree attitude was his way of dealing with the uncaring world.

Through the frosty barrier she had constructed between herself and the world, she had observed the sadness in Naruto's eyes when he looked at her, the frustration in Sasuke's gaze. She had seen the uncertainty in Kakashi-sensei's one eye.

Her team was slowly falling apart and she was the reason.

She didn't know why she was doing this... but she did, didn't she?

**Night**

For the second time during the two day period that they had been there, Kasumi woke up in the middle of the night, a scream lodged in her throat, demons dancing in the shadows

She ran her eyes around the room, noting to her relief that Naruto and Sasuke were still asleep. She didn't want questions, not now.

Rising smoothly to her feet, she glided over to the door and slipped through, her lack of noise honed with years of training.

What she didn't see were the obsidian eyes that snapped open and focused sharply on the ajar door, seconds after she was gone. They narrowed.

**Mist**

Kasumi stood on the small porch, her hair bound in a messy bun at her nape and dressed in a simple black shirt over black leggings. She stared into the mist and despite herself, her mind began to wander.

The nightmares hadn't been that vicious in... years. She knew why they were acting up though. The Demon Brothers, Zabuza, the (fake) Hunter Nin, the river, the _mist_. Funny, how she wasn't the least bit afraid of facing down an Anbu class shinobi, but was scared to death of a little fog.

But, then again... her fingers clenched on the railing. It had been in this environment where she had lost her parents.

_"Go!" Her father shouted at them, pushing her forward. "Go! I'll hold them off!"_

_"Otou-san!" She screamed, reaching back for her father... but he had already vanished in the Mist._

Her father had never stood a chance. He had been facing four jounin and two hunter-nin. All he had done was buy them a little time... five minutes to be exact. It hadn't been enough. It would never have been enough.

_"Okaa-san, they're catching up!" Hiroshi hissed under his breath._

_Held against his chest, Kasumi suppressed a whimper and buried her face in her big brother's shoulders. No, no, no. Please no. Not the nightmare._

_She could **feel** them. Feel them under her skin like an itch that wouldn't go away! They had hurt Otou-san - she had felt it like someone had taken hold of her heart and squeezed it ruthlessly - and they were going to hurt Okaa-san!_

_"I'll take care of it." Her kind, sweet mother said. She was strong, too. But not strong enough._

_"Okaa-san! No!" She sobbed, tears welling up in her eyes._

_"Hush, my little girl." Yuna cooed. "It's okay. Okaa-san promises it'll be okay."_

_'But, it won't!' She wanted to yell, but it was too late. Her mother was gone._

_Never to return._

"Kasumi."

Kasumi didn't start at the low, male voice. She had heard him coming, felt his chakra.

"Sasuke-san. You should be asleep." She said, staring off into the mist. It seemed to swirl under the faint moonlight, churning relentlessly. She wondered if her mind was like that, too.

Soft footsteps sounded behind her. "So should you."

She didn't respond. Kasumi felt tired... exhausted. The earlier training had exhausted her chakra reserves and worn out her body. Her mind was in no state to handle an interrogation. Couldn't he just leave her alone?

Sasuke stepped closer, his body heat touching her back intimately. She did her best not to flinch. She hadn't realized how cold she was until now. She wished she could return to that former state of ignorance, no matter how much it went against her natural instincts.

"You can't keep everything bottled forever." He said after a short pause.

Yes. Did Sasuke think she didn't know that? She _did. _She had completely cleared out the psychology section in the Konoha Library, and was well aware that suppressing and ignoring problems would only make them bigger.

But... what troubled her was private, and more importantly, it was dangerous. She couldn't pull her team into this. Not bright, sunny Naruto who already had a horrible burden to bear. Not Sasuke who sought vengeance, and had been forced to watch his family die around him. Not Kakashi-sensei whose sadness burned against her senses.

"I'll be fine." She whispered into the haze.

"...You know that's not true." Sasuke responded, his voice gentle, by his personal standards anyways. If she had been in a better mood, she would have been amused at the melting of the Ice Prince, but she could do without it at the moment.

She clenched her teeth. "You do the same, Sasuke-san."

Kasumi felt him tense behind her and she hated that he was close enough that she could tell. Why was he so damn close?

"You two don't have to know about that." He said at last.

For a split second, she felt the serenity she had built up painstakingly crack ever so slightly. That damn hypocrite. What right did he have to say that to her? What did he know?! What gave him the right to intrude on her, but kept her from questioning him?!

Her grip on the wooden railing was what bought her back from the rage. It splintered slightly from the force she was putting on it and the pain sliced through the thoughtless anger. She couldn't afford to lose it here. Not now... not here. She knew that Sasuke had seen no change in her face; she had found herself before that could happen.

Kasumi inhaled deeply, regained control of herself with years of experience. But she couldn't help the small bitter smile that her lips tilted into. "Oh?" She replied.

To his credit, Sasuke did hesitate slightly before saying, "Alright, maybe that was a little..."

"Self-righteous." She finished, a tad smug. Just a tad.

She heard him sigh. "Why have you been having nightmares, Kasumi?"

Kasumi narrowed her eyes, a subtle shift that most people would never notice. Perhaps she had underestimated Sasuke's arrogance. Or was that how he disguised his concern? She didn't even know anymore.

Smiling sweetly with the ease of familiarity, she turned around slowly and met her teammate's onyx eyes calmly. "You shouldn't worry about it, Sasuke-san. We all have our secrets, ne?"

He frowned at her, but before he could say anything, she cut him off mildly. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Kasumi wove around the Uchiha before he could say anything more and headed for her makeshift bed. She wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon, but she could fake sleep just as well as the next ninja. She knew Sasuke wouldn't risk waking Naruto up and causing a scene.

She left Sasuke staring after her moodily, his signature scowl on his face.

**Oil**

The thing was, Kasumi thought to herself in disgust as she eyed the pitiful results of her jutsu, the whole thing was a lose-lose situation.

If she didn't get the jutsu right, then she might get herself killed in the ensuring conflict. If she got it right...

Well. She stared at the oily, sloppy glop on the ground that was meant to be her technique. She did not want that stuff anywhere near her hair. Or her skin. Or just anywhere on her really.

Kasumi sighed and pressed her lips together. Back to work.

She ran through the seals quickly, having completed them at least a dozen times during the past day. "Water Release: Black Rain Technique." She chanted softly.

Slowly, far too slowly in her opinion, a black mist formed in front of her, condescending into a small black cloud. It stayed in place, refusing to move. She gritted her teeth and focused. She had done harder things than this! Driven by her determination and chakra, the cloud of black oil drifted gradually to her 'target', also known by most others as a wooden log.

Sighing in relief, she dispersed the cloud and watched as the poor log was covered in disgusting oil. Kasumi made a face. She was a kunoichi, yes, but did her sensei not think her a girl?

A teenage one at that?

**Advice**

This time, as the sun fell down the horizon, Kasumi was the one who went looking for her teammates.

She found Sasuke, first, guided by a voice that was growing ever stronger.

If she was completely honest with herself, Kasumi didn't know what to do about her bloodline. Certainly, it would be an asset in the upcoming fights, but... she had sealed it away for a reason.

Was she truly prepared for what her bloodline could show her? Last time... last time she had nearly gone insane, drowned in pain and soul rending guilt.

Sasuke stood in his clearing, panting, his chakra nearly depleted. She watched him, leaning against a nearby tree silently even though she knew he knew that she was there. Sasuke ran through his seals, his strained chakra flaring. He slammed his hands against the ground and she blinked as a medium-sized current ran across the earth, fading out as it went further and further.

A full two feet away from Sasuke, it faded out completely to its castor's ire, judging from the boy's rigid jaw. Kasumi frowned thoughtfully, mentally reevaluating how he had performed the jutsu. She didn't know the jutsu, apart from the lightning aspect, but she had enough faith in the Uchiha to trust that he was using the correct hand-seals.

Such a mistake was far more likely to have come from Naruto and with their tutelage, that likelihood was, thankfully, shrinking. The outcome of the jutsu seemed good enough, but the strength was lacking. So... most likely the problem was...

"You need a bit more physical energy." She said, pushing off of her tree and walking over to stand beside Sasuke.

Sasuke showed no surprise to her presence, only turning to look at her with quietly frustrated obsidian eyes. "Physical energy?" He asked.

She nodded gracefully. "Nature transformation is, in essence, changing the physical properties of chakra into an element. What that means for us, is that we have to find the correct ratio of physical and spiritual energy, yin and yang respectively, for the jutsu that we plan to use. You may want to try using some more physical energy when you perform your jutsu."

"But, not now." Kasumi added quickly when it looked like Sasuke was going to have a go at his jutsu once more. "You're tired out and we need to find Naruto."

Irritation flashed on the dark-haired boy's face, but he nodded, most likely seeing the logic in her argument. 'For all that Sasuke is a very logical individual,' She found herself musing to herself, 'he is also incredibly driven by emotion.' That of which could be an amazing benefit... or a heartbreaking burden.

_"I don't care what it takes!" Her beloved brother shouted recklessly at Hiroshi. "I_ **_will _**_avenge our parents."_

And he had, hadn't he? All it had taken... were his soul and the remnants of his sister's young, tender heart.

_"I can't really call it a dream... but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man." Sasuke stated, the wind blowing his black hair off his face on the rooftop._

What would Sasuke Uchiha take away from her?

"Kasumi?" She snapped back into reality to see her teammate staring at her with perceptive eyes.

Kasumi bit the inside of her cheek, mentally cursing herself out. She had to stop getting lost in the past; her teammates were suspicious enough as it was.

"I'm fine." She claimed, smiling dismissively. "Do you know where Naruto-san is?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, clearly annoyed at her change of subject. But he didn't push her like he did last night, and she wondered through a rush of relief if he had gotten the message to stay the _hell_ away. Knowing him though, he probably didn't.

"The dobe's somewhere over there." He said, jerking his chin to the right.

She raised a pointed eyebrow and said, "Lead the way, Sasuke-san."

He gave her a strange look, but began to pick his way through the thick brushes.

Kasumi followed him, making no mention of the fact that she was well aware of where Naruto was, could find her way to him easily, but simply didn't want the weight of Sasuke's dark gaze on her.

She refused to admit that she was that weak... or that she was that discomforted by the Uchiha. It didn't make any sense. She had faced much worse things than one boy her age with bottomless eyes and midnight hair.

Not that she had noticed _that_ specifically.

**Exhaustion**

When they came upon Naruto's clearing, he was lying on his back in the very center of it, clothes torn, and gasping rapidly. Leaves littered the ground and the trees around him bore some interesting scratches.

Sasuke strode into the clearing without pausing, hands in his pockets, while Kasumi followed gracefully.

"What are you doing, dobe?" He asked bluntly.

"Oi, teme!" Naruto jumped to his feet, eyes wide. "What are you doing here?!" He pointed an accusatory finger at the Uchiha and realized that Kasumi was there as well a few seconds later.

She raised an eyebrow at him and he flushed, dropping the finger to rub the back of his neck. "Ah. Sorry about that, Kasumi-chan."

The cream-colored girl simply smiled softly and shook her head, rebellious strands of her hair dancing on the wind. "Dinner time, Naruto-san." Was all that she said.

"Eeeh?" Naruto blinked, looked up. "It's dinner time already?"

Sasuke grunted. "It's almost eight, dobe."

"Oh, shut up." Naruto grumbled, then brightening up almost immediately. "Come on, come on! I'm hungry!"

He darted forward, taking to the trees and calling over his shoulder, "First one back doesn't have watch!" He took off, laughing.

Sasuke and Kasumi exchanged a quick look and were up and after him in no time at all.

**Spector**

As it turned out, the plan backfired on Naruto. Both of his teammates bypassed him easily despite his head start and while Sasuke was becoming faster, Kasumi was still the fastest person on their team.

She arrived at the house a long minute before Sasuke and Naruto did. Naruto ended up taking first watch while Kakashi-sensei would take second and Sasuke would be last. Kasumi would be the one who would be able to sleep through the entire night, something she found horribly ironic.

The blonde sulked for approximately one minute before entering the house and smelling the delicious scents of dinner. He forgot about his annoyance immediately, much to his teammates' amusement. Dinner was a relatively nice affair; the food was wonderful and Naruto and Sasuke bickered and it felt like everything was normal again.

When it came time to sleep though, Kasumi was more than a little hesitant. Sliding into the bathroom after Naruto was done, she stared blankly at her reflection. A calm, collected kunoichi stared back at her, showing nothing of the turmoil and chaos that raged underneath. Just as it should be. Just as she intended it to be.

So, why did she want to punch the mirror until it was pieces at her feet and her hands dripped blood on the floor? Her hands tightened on the cold edge of the sink and she was unwillingly reminded of a time, long ago, when she had gripped cold steel in those hands for the first time and felt warm blood splatter on her cheek.

It had been in a land like this one too, filled with water and fog. The blood had been red... so red. She had watched with wide, innocent eyes as it had spurted out of the man's neck, coating her with the viscous crimson liquid. There had been so _much_.

A tentative knock on the door bought her back to reality. "Kasumi-chan?" Naruto's concerned voice. "Are you okay? Your chakra..."

Oh. Kasumi focused on herself and found that she had lost almost all control of her chakra; it spun and churned under her skin, threatened to paint the air blue with hints of amber. She closed her eyes and forced herself to let go of the counter, recentering herself. Why wouldn't the past leave her alone?

"I'm fine, Naruto-san." She said and her voice came out steady. "I just tripped a little." It was a bad excuse, but he had no reason to question her.

A pause. "Okay. Be careful, Kasumi-chan." Naruto said and she heard the sounds of his footsteps as he left. She felt a twinge of guilt at lying to her trusting, cheerful teammate, but she crushed it ruthlessly.

Team 7 didn't belong in her past.

* * *

_Next time:_

_She shook her head, the smile fading along with her amusement. "Leave it."_

_It was an order. Uchiha Sasuke did not do orders._

* * *

**Me: The reviews! Kyaa! Thank you everybody!**

**starrat: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chappie!**

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**chloejaynehart: Well, I tried my best? Lolz, thanks for the review, hun!**

**LadyMorph18: Hmm... maybe? Kasumi is being all mysterious right now, at least to her teammates. Thanks for the review!**

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**Guest: Eek! I did my best! Hope you didn't wait too long!**

**Hinata18809: Heh, heh, one month hasn't passed...? I'm sorry; got a bit caught up with other stuff. Hope you enjoyed this chapter though!**

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**Bella-swan11: Greetings~ Lolz, we all know Sasuke is a stubborn blockhead. I'm sure he'll get better in time though. Maybe. Anyhow, thanks for the review!**

**michi-nin: Oh, I had so much fun writing that scene. Thank you, thank you, thank you! **

**bipop: XD Hope you liked this chapter, hun!**

**Me: As always, please review and check out my blog! Oooh, also:**

**Question: Who's your favorite Naruto character?**


	11. Stars

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

**Naruto: Hey! Why would you own me?!**

**Me: That's not the point...**

**Naruto: Eeeh? The point?**

**Me: Oh, nevermind.**

**Naruto: Ramen?**

**Me: ^_^lll**

* * *

**Purblind**

When it was time for Sasuke's watch, he wasn't surprised to see that Kasumi's cot was empty. He almost expected it.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, he slid outside and began the arduous task of finding his female teammate. As he circled the house, keeping a watch for her chakra signature, he pondered her recent behavior.

Sasuke understood secrets, he really did. He had a couple of his own; he did not ever want to discuss his clan's massacre with his teammates. He did not want to talk about Itachi and what he had said to him on that night, did not want to confer about his plans for vengeance. So, he understood why Kasumi had been so distant and and remote recently.

That didn't mean he liked it. Sasuke did not like feeling helpless... and in the face of his teammate's suffering, he was exactly that because she was so damn stubborn!

She was good at hiding, he gave her that. It took him ten minutes of searching to find her sitting on a log, two minutes away from the house, staring off into the shadowed forest.

As he had expected, she had dark circles under her eyes. He sincerely wanted to know what her nightmares were about.

"Sasuke-san." She greeted as he came up behind her as he had that night on the porch. "Aren't you supposed to be on watch?"

He just barely arched an eyebrow even though she couldn't see him. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" He returned quietly.

Sasuke saw her lips curl slightly, but her eyes remained near black with gloom. Despite that, her voice was light when she said, "Touché."

He stopped right behind Kasumi and pinned his eyes firmly on her face. Sasuke had realized that day in the rain that she was more like him than he had realized; she hid her true emotions behind kindness and graciousness while he hid his behind a cold, monotone mask. It had made him grit his teeth and wonder just how much he had missed when it came to his female teammate, because he had been so certain he could miss nothing.

Ignorant... he had been so ignorant before and he remained ignorant now. But now, he was aware of the flaw and could work around it. If Kasumi reacted in any way, she could mask it in her face and body, but her eyes sometimes showed her true emotions.

"What are your nightmares about?" He asked and saw her eyes tighten for a bare second. Her face remained unchanged, her body still relaxed.

"I do not see how that is any of your business, Sasuke-san." She replied softly.

"You aren't getting enough sleep." He countered. "That can affect your battle performance."

"Whether I tell you or not, the situation will remain the same." Kasumi said, not missing a beat. "There is no need for you to know."

He narrowed his eyes, annoyed, frustrated, and intrigued all at the same time. "Something here is bothering you. As your teammate, I do have the right to know what that is."

Her smile was sweet with a bite of spice. "Taking lessons from Kakashi-sensei?"

Sasuke smirked, sensing he had scored a hit. "He _is_ our sensei, no matter how lazy."

She shook her head, the smile fading along with her amusement. "Leave it."

It was an order. Uchiha Sasuke did not do orders.

His smirk fell to be replaced by an aggravated glare. "No."

Kasumi pressed her lips together lightly, her eyes narrowing minutely. "It has nothing to do with you."

He gritted his teeth, moving with a rapid burst of chakra to stand in front of her and forced her to meet his furious black eyes. Sasuke could not remember the last time he had felt this angry since _that_ day and the feeling from back then had been tinged with disbelief and pain. "Do you think you can just block us both out?" He hissed, not needing to specify who he meant. "Do you think he doesn't want to know?"

She flinched and rather than feeling triumphant that he had finally got a decent reaction from her, Sasuke felt a little sick. He...didn't want to hurt her; he simply wanted to know why she hurt so he could fix it, whatever 'it' was. He had made it his job since _that_ day to take action, to fix things; he never wanted to be powerless once again. Why couldn't she just tell him? It couldn't be that bad, not compared to the Massacre he had witnessed as an eight year old by his revered older brother.

But despite his harsh words, Kasumi refused to back down. She met his gaze; her normal milk chocolate eyes the color of bitter dark chocolate. "It isn't yours to know." She stated, words filled with a strange echo of desperation that Sasuke wanted to follow, but couldn't. "Stop pushing, Sasuke-san."

His hands clenched into fists. "Is it really that bad?" He asked gingerly.

She bit her lip hard, a whisper of pain touching those bitter-sweet eyes. "Yes." Kasumi whispered.

Sasuke sighed, his shoulders dropping marginally. He wanted to know...but he could all but feel her vulnerability at that moment and he had no intention of breaking Kasumi. Some things, he had learned, could never be put back together after being broken and he had the feeling she was one of them.

Besides, it wasn't as if he didn't have time.

Straightening up, he held out his hand to her, glimpsed the flare of surprise in her eyes. A small smile tugged at his lips; he found he quite enjoyed surprising this composed girl.

"Come on." Sasuke said, keeping his voice casual. "It's almost breakfast time."

Kasumi glanced at the sky, took in the streaks of pink and orange that had stretched across the dark blue. She shook her head at him, smile exasperated.

She reached up and took his hand as the dawn broke.

**Success**

The afternoon after her conversation with Sasuke, Kasumi stared thoughtfully at her target and smiled.

Flashing through the hand-seals with now thoughtless ease, she twisted chakra through her body and said, "Water Release: Black Rain Technique."

Instantly, a dark, dark mist formed around her body and she solidified it into a black cloud, directing it above her target. Dispersing it with a shift of her will, she watched in satisfaction as black oil rained steady down on the poor wooden doll.

She had finally mastered it.

In his own clearing, Sasuke smirked as he slammed his hands down on the ground, a powerful electric wave forming under his hands to race forward without visible weak points. "Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!"

Not too far away, Naruto slammed his hands together and called out, "Wind Release: Gale Palm!" Wind compressed neatly in between his hands as he drew them apart and he threw his hands out, a massive gust of wind flying at a group of trees, flattening them in the process.

He stared at the decimated trees, at his own hands, and grinned, pumping a fist into the air. "Yatta! I did it!"

From where he was 'guarding' Tazuna - reading his porn - Kakashi blinked as his clones dispelled and eye-smiled. 'Maa...I knew they could do it, but I didn't expect this much progress in such a short time. Good job, Naruto, Sasuke, Kasumi.'

**Plans**

"So, we're all done?" Kasumi questioned, kneeling on the untouched clearing the genin had by unconscious agreement gathered in.

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned, evidently supremely pleased with himself. He was sprawled on the ground, limbs spread out like he was trying to create a snow angel, all but radiating satisfaction.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked smugly from where he was sitting near Kasumi, arm casually hooked around his bent leg.

"That's good." She hummed, her mind surprisingly free from the dark fog that had obscured her clarity for so long. She refused to believe that it was because of what happened that morning; it was probably just because she was happy that she had mastered her own jutsu.

Yup, that was it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Resolutely ignoring the dry voice inside her that whispered, 'Denial~', she focused on what the upcoming fight would contain, talking out loud for the benefit of her teammates. "A week.. that's how long Sensei said Zabuza-san would take to recover. Following that trail of thought, we have... two days, maybe three. This time, he'll be ready for Kakashi-sensei and his Sharingan, which means he won't be caught off guard..."

"And there's still that fake hunter-nin." Sasuke prompted.

"Yes, him." Kasumi frowned fractionally. Something about that shinobi made her decidedly uneasy and it wasn't simply because of his disguise as a Kirigakure hunter-nin, she had figured that out some time ago. Her bloodline wasn't yet alert enough for it to inform her of the reason and circumstances, but that accomplice of Zabuza's would be a problem. "Something's wrong with this..."

"What is it?" Naruto blinked at her, blissful haze broken.

She blinked back at him, brow furrowing. "Zabuza-san's a missing-nin, an A rank shinobi, someone who should have been able to overpower us all easily once Kakashi-sensei was out of the picture. Instead, he wasted time talking about how he slaughtered his classmates as a child and kept trying to make us give up. Why is that?"

"He could have just been trying to psych us out." Naruto suggested.

"Yes, but why not just kill us straight out? He could have done it, but except for that one instance with the clone - and thinking back on it, I don't think that attack would have sliced off my neck, only cut off an arm or something - " Naruto choked and Sasuke's eye twitched. She ignored both of their reactions, " - similar. Zabuza-san never truly tried to kill us."

"Are you sure you're not over thinking this, Kasumi-chan?" The blonde asked dubiously.

"No, she's not, dobe." Sasuke cut in, eyes narrowing in thought. "Why the hell would a jaded, violent missing-nin who had no problems killing his own classmates not kill us?"

"That's the question." Biting her lip, she tucked a stray piece of cream hair behind her ear. "And then there's his accomplice. Why was he hiding in the trees when the fight was happening? You saw his speed. While none of us were aware of him, he could have taken us all out with senbon and killed Tazuna-san easily. But he only interfered when it became clear that Zabuza-san was losing and would be killed."

"Maybe Zabuza just didn't want to kill us?" Naruto suggested, not unreasonably, in his point of view, at least.

"That's possible, but with him being who he is, he shouldn't have any morals against killing a trio of green genins." Kasumi paused, thinking through the information she had. "It's highly likely that those two are working for Gato purely for money. Missing-nin tend to have that problem after a while, but I know there have been rumors of rebellion in the Kiri..."

"You sound familiar with the Village Hidden in the Mist." Sasuke commented, tone 'mild'.

She didn't flinch, didn't blink. "I've read a few books on the place, as it _is_ one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries." She replied easily.

The look Sasuke gave her was quietly suspicious, but he nodded and let it go for now.

Lowering her gaze to the ground, Kasumi absently began to pick at the grass, her mind far, far away. "If Zabuza-san is a part of the Mist Rebellion... that puts an entirely different spin on this." She sighed, leaned back. "I'm sorry; I should have noticed this sooner. I've been... distracted."

The boys exchanged a look.

"Eeh, don't worry about it, Kasumi-chan!" Naruto chirped brightly. "I didn't even bother thinking about Zabuza and his crony!"

His crony? Kasumi sweatdropped.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Dobe, remind me that when we get back, the first thing to go is your jumpsuit and the second thing is your vocabulary."

"Oi!" Naruto managed to jump to his feet despite his visible exhaustion and pointed a finger at his rival, who quirked an eyebrow at him. "Don't you dare touch my precious jumpsuit!"

"Naruto-san..."

"Ah, right, sorry about that, Kasumi-chan..." He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sasuke smirked.

**Dinner**

"Wow! This is super fun!" Tazuna exclaimed at the head of the dining table, rubbing the back of his neck happily. "It's been a long time since we ate with so many people!"

Kasumi blinked. Did he mean that there used to be gatherings with a great deal of people? Did he mean that his family used to be larger? She knew that Inari's father was gone or dead; that was easily deduced. So... was he dead? Or was Tazuna referring to the state of his town and how some of his friends from before would have dinner with him?

She sighed inwardly, taking a bite of her salmon. The thing about observing and speculating was that she tended to overdo it to the point where it simply made no sense or fixated on a statement that could very well have been just a casual comment.

They really did have good seafood here.

"Ya." Naruto muttered through a mouthful of food.

Sasuke shot him a disgusted look while Kasumi reprimanded him with a soft, "Naruto-san. Mouth closed and chew."

The blonde obeyed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Kasumi-chan." Brightening up as a thought struck him, he turned towards Kakashi, eyes sparkling. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! Now that we're done with our jutsu, are you going to teach us some new ones?"

He chuckled, eye curving up in amusement. "Maybe later. Why don't you guys just practice your teamwork for now, ne? Those jutsu are all capable of combination attacks."

Naruto blinked and tried to process that. He failed; Sasuke and Kasumi had done a spectacular job of cramming knowledge inside his head, but they hadn't gotten to nature manipulation, yet. Confused, he automatically turned to his female teammate. "Kasumi-chan?"

She covered a yawn and beside her, Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. Leaning forward, Kasumi crossed her legs and propped up her head on her hand.

"Our jutsu were meant to be complimentary, Naruto-san, like how me and Sasuke can combine his fire and my wind for a stronger attack. Your wind jutsu can boost Sasuke's fire techniques and increase the force of my own wind jutsu. Sasuke's lightning techniques are more powerful if used in conjunction with my water techniques and the jutsu I recently learned was meant to be used with a fire technique." She explained languidly.

"But," Kakashi interjected. "Combination attacks require specific timing and careful teamwork. They only succeed if they two casters have a close bond and have spent a great deal of time practicing. It's why," He glanced at Sasuke and Kasumi, "you two had such a difficult time getting your jutsu to work together properly when you first tried to combine them."

"Oh." Naruto thought about that for a moment before brightening up, pumping a fist into the air, eyes flaring with determination. "Yosh! We're gonna master this in no time at all!"

Kakashi eye-smiled, Sasuke smirked, and Kasumi... Kasumi watched as Inari's eyes filled with tears.

"Why do you guys try so hard?" He screamed suddenly, tears falling down his cheeks. "No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gato's men! No matter how pretty the claims you make or how hard you work. When facing the strong, the weak will only get killed!"

'He sounds like he has some personal vendetta against Gatou,' Kasumi noted to herself. 'Maybe...' Her gaze flickered to the torn photograph she had noticed the first time she had eaten dinner.

Sasuke kept his silence, but Naruto made a face and laid his head down at the table. "Whatever kid, I'm not like you."

No. No... Naruto wasn't like Inari, at all. He was bright and cheerful and strong... while Inari was...

"I'd hate to be like you!" Inari screamed and Kasumi narrowed her eyes, feeling like someone had just slid an ice cube down her throat. She wasn't going to like what came next. "You don't know anything about this country, yet you're being so nosy!"

"What the hell do you know about me?" He continued and whirled on Kasumi and Sasuke, too, eyes pained. Her fingers tightened on her chopsticks despite herself. "I'm different from all of you guys, you're always clowning around and acting so foolish, you don't know how hard life can be!"

_Mother, Father, Big Brother, Family, Home, **Life-**_

Kasumi snapped her metal chopsticks cleanly in half.

**Rough**

The sound echoed clearly through the room and Sasuke had already turned towards Kasumi before his mind had registered it.

She stared down at the chopsticks, face perfectly blank. But, he was sitting right next to her and he caught the unexpected quiet fury that swirled in those coffee depths. Sasuke had never truly seen Kasumi mad. Not once, despite the shenanigans he and the dobe got up to on a daily basis.

It was... unnerving, almost upsetting to see the emotion in her eyes. He felt an almost foreign annoyance directed at the boy that had upset her so.

The others were silent, staring wide-eyed at the girl in shock, surprise, or concern. Even Inari, the idiotic brat, had cut off his rant to gape at the kunoichi.

Sasuke didn't know what to do. He knew that Inari's words had hit a sore spot, hell, he wanted to deck the boy himself, but he hadn't comforted anyone in... years. What was he supposed to do? He knew how to fight, how to tear someone down layer by layer, but he didn't know how to assuage her broken composure.

Was he supposed to reach out to her? Touch her hand, assure her that he was on her side and she wasn't alone against the world? He didn't know and he felt strangely inadequate for it.

Damn it. Of course his team did this to him, took his absolute assurance in any situation and turned it inside out without even trying.

Of course.

As usual, it was Naruto who broke the silence. "Kasumi-chan?" He reached out across the table to lay his hand on Kasumi's still arm, cerulean eyes wide and worried.

She blinked and the anger was gone from her eyes, replaced with serene indifference. Kasumi looked up and smiled reassuringly at the blonde. "I'm fine, Naruto-san." She said, gently removing his hand with her own, her gentle tone taking the sting out of the action.

He didn't look convinced, but she turned to Tsunami, who sat ram-rod straight in her seat, face writ with concern. "My apologies, Tsunami-san." Kasumi lightly set the broken chopsticks next to her bowl. "I must have been more tired than I realized. Forgive me."

Practically everyone at the table knew her exhaustion had nothing to do with this, but the older woman nodded, pulling herself together with admirable speed. "Oh, don't worry about it, Kasumi-chan. They were only chopsticks." Turning to her disgrace of a son, she scowled. "Inari! Apologize to her at once!"

Kasumi held out a hand calmly before the boy could stutter out an angry retort, the tears on his face not yet dry. "No need. Excuse me, I believe a walk will do me well." Rising out of her seat, she swept out of the room before anyone could abject.

The door closed quietly behind her and Sasuke sighed as Naruto rose out of his seat and began to shout out at Inari both for him upsetting his teammate and for his idiotic views. It wasn't like he disagreed with the dobe, but now that Kasumi was gone, it would be expected for him to reign in Naruto.

And he seriously did not want to do that. The little brat completely deserved the dressing down. Sasuke had certainly never gave up and cried.

**Stars**

Kasumi's family had had certain views on stars.

Her father had once picked her up, taken her outside and sat her on their porch all so she could see the stars.

"See, Kasumi?" He had said, pointing at the twinkling lights up in the heavens. "Those are stars... but we like to think of them as the spirits of our ancestors."

"Really?" The young, naive girl that she had been had said in fascination. "Why?"

Masato had laughed and ruffled up her hair to her pout. "Because of our bloodline, sweetie. You've felt it, haven't you? A warm, pretty amber glow?"

She had nodded. Kausmi had been so young at that time, hadn't understood why her parents had cautioned her to never _ever_ tell anyone else she possessed that protective amber chakra. She hadn't understood that at that age she shouldn't have been able to use it either.

She hadn't understood so many things... but she had known something was coming, a storm that had eventually wiped away her life as she had known it. But that had been the one thing her parents had refused to hear of.

"Well, that connects us to the world, Kasumi." Her father had smiled at her, cheeks crinkling. "To the earth and streams and trees and flowers... but especially to the heavens and the stars."

"Why?" She had asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Because that's where it came from." Masato had explained patiently. "And because that's where our chakra came from, we believe that when we die, we go back up to the stars."

"Oh." Kasumi had thought about that, childishly somber. "So, Obaa-san and Ojii-san are up there?" She had never truly known her grandfather and her one experience with her grandmother had been... troubling to say the least, but she knew her parents were sad about them not being with them.

"Yes." Her Otou-san had looked thoughtfully up into the pretty, bright lights in the darkness. "One day, your Okaa-san and I are going to be up there too, watching over you."

She had quickly shaken her head, the statement striking too close to the dark nightmares that haunted her at night. "No, no! I want Okaa-san and Otou-san to be with me forever!"

Masato had laughed and thrown her up in the air, amused by a child's dependence on her parents. "You won't be saying that when you want to sneak out with a boyfriend!" He had teased.

Kasumi had gasped in indignation and refused to forgive her Otou-san until he piggybacked her all across their house. And then her Okaa-san had come out to see what all the fuss was about... with colorful frosted cupcakes!

She had giggled and lunged for them while her older brothers had moaned and complained about how unfair that was. How come their imouto could eat the cupcakes while they couldn't? Sighing dramatically, her Okaa-san had finally folded to their puppy dog eyes and gave them two each.

For all their complaining though, when Kasumi had looked at them with shiny eyes the next morning, both had let her lick the frosting from their cupcakes. It had been a night of magic and sprinkles, light and sugar, family and warmth.

Sometimes, Kasumi would dream of it while lying in bed and wake up with a smile on her face, hope in her heart. Until she looked out her window and saw the Hokage Mountain, go downstairs to find that Hiroshi-onii-san had left for a mission again.

She hated those dreams more than she hated the nightmares, because they reminded her of what she could never have again.

* * *

_Next time:_

_"Evil witch." Sasuke muttered under his breath and was abruptly met with kick to his chin that he couldn't avoid, because he couldn't fucking see! Needless to say, he didn't repeat the insult._

* * *

**Me: Kyaa! Here are the reviews!**

**lostfeather1: Itachi, huh? I love that guy; I even have a fanfic for him. Oh, thank you! I'm so happy you like Kasumi-chan! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**LadyMorph18: Kimimaro... he was completely awesome. I agree; there's even this one fic where he does eventually end up loyal to Naruto. It's called Damaged by Faust VII. Maybe you should check it out? Thanks for the review, sweetheart!**

**starrat: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**kkkitties: Ah, I'm so happy you liked! I hope this chapter didn't disappoint! **

**Bella-swan: Ah, well, Sasuke's a stubborn guy. I'm sure he'll get Kasumi-chan to open up eventually... Lolz, thanks for the review, hun!**

**uxintaa: Oh, thank you! Well, character development marches on! Thanks for the review, too!**

**Nikita: Gaara is amazing. Wonder how Kasumi-chan's going to react to him...? Ah, thank you so much! I did originally plan for Sakura to be on the team, but then I realized a four-man team would be really imbalanced. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**MiaMushroomCloud: Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your review made my day! I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for the wonderful review, sweetheart!**

**Ah, please review and check out my blog! Thanks to my betas, as always.**

**Question: Who goes on tvtropes and spends hours browsing through random stuff? *raises hand***


	12. Combination

**Me: I do not own Naruto**

**Naruto: Believe it!**

**Me: :o Where did you pop up from?**

**Naruto: :P**

* * *

**Ray**

When Naruto and Sasuke found Kasumi, Naruto had yelled at Inari for the moron of a boy's words and views and Sasuke had restrained him and dragged him out the door. Naruto, knowing full well that the Uchiha had been reluctant to intervene, had decided without a single word spoken between them to go looking for their female teammate.

They found her ten minutes later, wandering aimlessly around, staring silently at the sky. The boys shared a look and seamlessly slid themselves on each side of the white golden-haired girl.

If she objected to their presence, Naruto couldn't see it. Not in her eyes, her face or in her body language.

Now, contrary to popular belief, Naruto was not a total idiot. He couldn't be, not with the traps and pranks he pulled on a daily basis. It was simply that his intellect was more in people and beliefs than it was in principles and books. Kasumi had picked up on that and explained it to Sasuke early on in their training sessions with one another, so they mostly tried to skip the boring stuff and teach him in terms that he could understand, relating it to street-stuff and things like that.

He knew that Kasumi had been suffering during this mission. He knew that she was sad and angry and in pain. Naruto thought that Sasuke probably knew, too, but the bastard just wasn't as close to his emotions as Naruto was and couldn't consciously identify it. But that didn't mean that the teme didn't know.

He knew that Kasumi had been having nightmares, waking up in the middle of the night and spending long hours outside. It was why she had been getting so tired recently, and he shared the teme's concern about that. He didn't want Kasumi getting hurt because she was too tired!

Naruto knew all that, but he didn't know what to do to help his friend... and that was what he had realized she had become. Kasumi had taught him, coached him, guided him patiently without expecting a thing in return and the old man and Iruka were the only ones who had ever done that for him before.

How was it possible for him not to consider her a friend? That was why he was so frustrated because he wanted to help Kasumi but she wouldn't let him help, and Sasuke was being a jerk and he wasn't helping her either.

Well, Naruto thought that the teme might have been trying, but he didn't think he was getting a lot of luck. Which was understandable, really; Sasuke was a cold-hearted bastard who was extremely out of touch with his own emotions and possessed general social awkwardness.

Hey, Kasumi might have coaxed (threatened) them into working together, but the Uchiha was still Naruto's rival.

She didn't say anything or do anything when they showed up, so Naruto relaxed slightly. Kasumi was really kind and sweet and nice... but she could come up with retaliations worse than his.

And that was scary.

Shuddering a little at the reminded of The-Wet-Book-Incident-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, Naruto blinked when the brown-eyed girl started to move, her face tinged with a sorrow that pulled at his heart, and her footsteps near soundless.

The blonde glanced at Sasuke, confused. He just offered a half-shrug and jerked his chin in Kasumi's direction, indicating that they should probably follow her. Naruto frowned, but started walking.

Kasumi led them around the area for hours. He couldn't see any sort of pattern in the way she walked, so he concluded that she was probably choosing the direction randomly. The pace wasn't taxing, wasn't anywhere close, and they didn't talk, but Naruto could all but feel the melancholy coming off his female teammate.

He made sure to press up against her or 'accidentally' bump into her when he felt like the sadness was going to overwhelm her. She didn't make any indications that she noticed or that it helped, but he could almost see the darkness retreating a little from her eyes.

Sasuke didn't do anything or say anything, but he was there, walking close enough that Kasumi must have been able to feel his body heat, and for him, that was probably a gigantic social step forward.

She finally stopped in a clearing, the original clearing that Kakashi-sensei had gathered them in, Naruto realized, and without a word or gesture, laid down on the ground on her back, eyes looking up into the stars.

She was tired. Not surprising, considering that Naruto was pretty sure she hadn't been sleeping like she should have been for a while.

Exchanging a glance with Sasuke, they laid down next to her, making sure she wasn't cold in the early morning chill. He didn't make a move to touch Kasumi and Sasuke refused to have skin to skin contact, but Naruto thought he might have felt her relax, just a little bit.

Sometime later, he wasn't really sure when, her eyelids fluttered closed and so did his. He wasn't aware when Sasuke finally gave in to the call of sleep.

Naruto was proud, though, that Kasumi didn't have a single nightmare that night.

**Cooperation**

Of course the peace couldn't last. No, that would have been far too much to ask.

Kasumi sighed as she watched the fifteenth try of Sasuke and Naruto's collaboration technique go down in flames. Literally.

The two simply could not cooperate with each other.

Long story short, the whole collaboration techniques hadn't been going well. For some odd reason, as soon as their jutsu met, the attack got weaker, not stronger. By the time it got a few feet away, it dispersed completely into smoke.

She could work together with both of the boys fine. The hours of practicing together with Sasuke on their fire and wind combo had paid off; they could synchronize their lightning and water easily. While her collaboration techniques with Naruto weren't nearly as powerful or as smooth, it was still passable.

Naruto and Sasuke though...

"Oi, teme!" Naruto screamed at his rival. "Why the hell are you always so slow?!"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. "Me? You're the one whose timing's off!"

"What did you say?" Naruto shoved his face into Sasuke's.

"I said-"

"Boys!" Kasumi cut in quickly, seeing a potential replay of the kissing scene that had so scarred her mind in the Academy.

"What?!" They spun around to glare at her and were immediately met with a raised eyebrow.

She waited patiently for them to realize their mistake, tapping her foot gently on the ground. Normally, she might have a bit annoyed, but would have let it go. However, the past few days had taken their toll on her temper and her restraint.

Surprisingly, Naruto was the first one to understand, though considering the amount of times she had had to discipline him, maybe it wasn't that strange. He paled, eying her with worried eyes.

A second later, Sasuke shifted uneasily and his chakra churned.

No one yelled at the kunoichi. It was bad for their health... and they had forgotten that.

Kasumi smiled. It wasn't nice. "I have an idea."

They gulped. Hard.

**Blindfold**

"Kasumi-chan!" Naruto screamed, yelping when a kunai whipped by his cheek, resulting in a shallow cut. "Is this really necessary?"

Though he said nothing, the scowl on Sasuke's face indicated that he was of the same mind as the dobe. Especially when Kasumi sent him flying back with a ruthless kick to the solar plexus.

The boys knew, just knew that she was smiling serenely, despite the fact that they couldn't see her, courtesy of the stripes of cloth tied around their heads. "Of course it is, Naruto-san. You two need to learn to work together, after all."

Naruto barely dodged a shuriken aimed at his arm, but was promptly met with a jab to his gut. "Couldn't... you... have... found... another way... for us to... work together?" He gasped, falling to the ground.

Her smile widened. "Oh, no. I think this is working out just fine, Naruto-san."

"Evil witch." Sasuke muttered under his breath and was abruptly met with kick to his chin that he couldn't avoid, because he couldn't fucking see! Needless to say, he didn't repeat the insult.

By the end of that training session, Naruto and Sasuke had learned to work together, in combat at least. It was Kasumi's hope that they would be able to combine their jutsu later.

They also seemed to be sporting a multitude of bruises and scratches. She claimed no responsibility for that when questioned by an amused Kakashi.

According to Kasumi, such was only a tragic side effect of their training. He didn't ask further, to the annoyance of Sasuke and Naruto.

**Repeat**

The next morning, she watched critically as Naruto and Sasuke brawled on the ground before her, having gotten into an argument after their sixth attempt at combining their jutsu.

Kasumi didn't quite remember what had been the catalyst and she didn't particularly care. What she did care about was that the boys were fighting _again_ and they seemed to have forgotten yesterday's lesson.

'Well,' she thought to herself, slightly annoyed. It had been amusing earlier, but she wasn't _that _sadistic. 'I guess that means I have to remind them.'

Sighing tragically, she took out the blindfolds and coughed subtly.

Naruto and Sasuke froze, knowing all too well why it wasn't a good idea to ignore their female teammate. They turned slowly to face her, sweat appearing on their foreheads.

"Co-Come on, now, Kasumi-chan." Naruto said, eyeing the blindfolds in her hands nervously, face pale. "I - thi-this really isn't necessary."

She simply shook her head and advanced.

"Kasumi..." Sasuke warned, eyes focused firmly on the threatening length of white cloth.

There was absolutely no way Sasuke could hurt her. For one, Kasumi was no shrinking violet. For two, Naruto would always be on her side should it come to a physical fight and they had learned that at full strength, two against one could and would beat Sasuke.

And then there was the black-eyed boy's conscience, not that he would ever admit it. Underneath all the vengeance and the darkness, she had the feeling that he was built more to protect than to hurt. Kasumi had great doubts as to whether Sasuke could actually seriously injure her and live with the guilt afterwards.

So... she smiled fearlessly and kept right on going.

Minutes later, various grunts and curses rang out across the clearing. A Kakashi clone sitting in a nearby tree eye-smiled and went back to reading about how Haru was being seduced by Suki...

**Frequency**

"Hmm..." Kasumi mused to herself a few hours later, after yet another failed attempt by a Naruto and Sasuke that were a little more bruised up than before.

"Why isn't this working?!" Naruto demanded, stomping his foot on the ground.

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke said, but his flinty eyes told his teammates that he was just as annoyed.

She frowned, thinking over how the combination jutsu had gone. If it was one thing that she had already known and that Shikamaru had helped enforce, it was to train smarter, not stronger.

When Naruto's wind had collided with Sasuke's fire... what had happened? Some of the fire had been put out, some had lessened in intensity, the heat had cooled...

"It's the temperature." She said suddenly. Clearly startled, both boys snapped around to look at her. Kasumi stared back at them steadily, barely tempering her excitement with her natural restraint. "It's the temperature of Naruto-san's wind."

Naruto blinked at her and Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Eeeh? Kasumi-chan, what are you talking about?" The blonde scratched his head, adorable in his confusion.

Hiding her smile, she leaned back against a tree, satisfaction in her blood. "Naruto-san, your wind is too cold." She explained patiently. "Cold wind reduces the temperature of fires and disperses reactive materials, 'killing' the fire, so to speak."

"Oh." Naruto frowned, evidently not having understood most of that, but getting that his wind was too cold and that was what was causing the problem. "Well, then, what do I have to do?"

Kasumi considered it, mind flashing back to when she and Sasuke had first tried combination attacks. "I think..." She said slowly, "that Sasuke-san and I had the same problem. We simply fixed it before I had to resort to analyzing the why of it."

Sasuke frowned. "We did?"

She nodded. "Yes and I do believe that we eventually adjusted our jutsu subconsciously."

Naruto furrowed his brow, question marks dancing around his head. "Sub-con-xiou-sly...?"

"Subconsciously," Kasumi corrected gently. "It means, 'doing so without thinking about it'. Sasuke-san, do you know what we did?"

He shook his head. "No. I was never aware that we 'did' anything."

She inclined her head, unsurprised. "I wasn't either, at least, not until this came up. I think that I automatically ramped up the temperature of my wind and you unconsciously intensified your flame after a couple of tries, which is why we didn't notice anything."

"So..." Naruto frowned. "What should I do?"

"With some practice, you should be able to raise the temperature of your wind. I would suggest molding and heating your chakra before releasing it." She replied.

"Alright!" The blonde pumped his fist into the air, eyes aflame. "I can do this, believe it!"

Sasuke looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. "Just get to it, dobe."

"What did you say, teme?"

Kasumi sighed and looked wistfully at the sky. Why her?

**Once More**

"Naruto-san?" Kasumi glanced at the gasping blonde, open concern on her face. "Maybe you should take a break. It's dinner time."

Bent down, hands on his knees, Naruto shook his head, tilting up his head with visible effort to offer a weak smile. "No, I'm fine, Kasumi-chan. You two go on without me."

She hesitated. Hours had passed and the sun was close to setting. That entire time Naruto had been working on his wind jutsu, the torn up trees around them baring evidence to his hard work. Even with his massive chakra reserves, the blonde had to be exhausted.

"The dobe's right." Sasuke nudged her in the direction of the house. "He'll be fine. We should go back and eat. His stomach will lead him back soon enough."

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned triumphantly...and then scowled. "What the hell did you mean by that, you teme!?"

Sasuke gave him a blank look. "What do you think I meant, dobe!?"

"Why you -"

Kasumi shook her head, a soft smile pulling on her lips, and headed back for the house. They were right; Naruto would probably be just fine.

_For now._

She bit her lip and forcibly suppressed that thought. When the time came, Kasumi would deal with it.

**Lullaby**

Kasumi sat on the back porch of Tazuna's house, gently running a brush through her recently washed hair.

Dinner had been a quiet affair. She had been in no mood to promote conversation and Sasuke was hardly a small-chat person. Kakashi had been engrossed in his porn, as always, and Tsunami had been too embarrassed over Inari's behavior that she hadn't been comfortable talking with the ninja protecting her father. Said boy had stared at his bowl the entire time and Tazuna had been drunk.

Sighing softly, she glanced up at the night sky. The stars really were bright here, she noted. In Konoha, they were somewhat muted by the many lights that glowed throughout the night, but the town here was so ruined that it was simply pure moonlight and starlight.

Beautiful... in a rather sorrowful way.

"Mom?" A distant voice floated down to her and Kasumi turned her head slightly to see that the window above her was open. Inari's bedroom, she assumed.

"Hush, Inari." Came Tsunami's gentle voice. "It's time for bed."

A pause. "Mom, I'm sorry."

The older woman blew out a breath. "I know, sweetheart. I know."

"Can you sing me that song?" A request that told Kasumi just how much of a child Inari still was, although she had already known that.

"Of course." Tsunami took a deep breath and the kunoichi's blood turned to ice, her hand clenching on the brush in her hand.

"_Oh, sweetie, the night is old._

_Listen to the crashing of the waves,_

_and slip into the sweet embrace of sleep._

_Let the sea sweep you away,_

_like a mother's hug._

_You'll be safe and sound always,_

_for the night is when ninjas roam_

_and protect their villagers from all harm..."_

Kasumi stood up abruptly, face pale. Spinning on her heel, she stepped back into the house, but even then, that lullaby haunted her like the trickling of a cold hand down her spine.

If she tried hard enough, she had no doubts that she could replace her mother's voice with Tsunami's.

**Daybreak**

"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked over breakfast as Sasuke lifted a spoonful of porridge to his mouth.

"He didn't come back last night." Kasumi replied, tone relatively indifferent.

'But only for the people that don't know her,' Sasuke amended to himself, flicking a glance to his female teammate. There _was_ a note of concern in her voice that he only just caught.

He snorted. "He should be fine. Probably snoring on the ground somewhere."

Sasuke wasn't all too worried about the dobe. His rival could take care of himself, especially with all of the training they had been pounding into his thick skull.

Kasumi shot him a reprimanding look, but there was a twinkle of amusement in those milk chocolate eyes and he smirked. It was... good to see the cream-haired girl acting more like herself.

Sasuke was no fool; when he focused, his observational skills were nearly as good as Kasumi's. He knew that she was the primary 'glue' holding the team together and they couldn't afford to fall apart now.

He continued to nonchalantly eat his breakfast, paying no attention to the silence that had befallen the table. Kakashi had already finished his breakfast - without once taking off his mask, the bastard - and Kasumi seemed to be lost in her thoughts. He really couldn't care less about the family of the bridge builder they were guarding.

Finished, Kasumi set her spoon down quietly and rose to place her bowl in the sink. "Pardon me. I'm going out." She said, the words polite but the intent clear.

"Wait." Downing the last few drops of the porridge, Sasuke got to his feet and copied her actions. She waited patiently, no trace of the strain that he had seen the past few nights, and when he was done, nodded gracefully to the door.

"The dobe can take care of himself." He murmured to her as they made their way to the clearing.

Kasumi glanced at him, face serene. "He's our teammate." She said mildly. "And you're worried as well."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "How so?"

A gentle curve of her lips. "You're walking here with me, aren't you?"

"Touché." He admitted grudgingly. "Do you think the dobe's gotten the jutsu done yet?"

"He's Naruto-san." She reminded him. "He probably only collapsed after he perfected it."

Sasuke was about to answer when Kasumi suddenly tensed and turned her eyes toward the forest they were about to enter. Frowning because he hadn't sensed any change, Sasuke discreetly placed his hand near his weapons pouch and kept himself alert.

A few moments later, as they entered the forest, a pale figure with long dark hair came into view, carrying a straw basket. It was a male, Sasuke deduced from the structure of the stranger's body, but one with incredibly feminine features.

At his side, Sasuke felt Kasumi stiffen, although when he glanced at her, her face remained studiously blank. He wasn't fooled; like himself, he had come to realize that when his female teammate didn't want to show any of her emotions, she didn't. More... there was a certain panic in her dark brown eyes that made him frown, ready his chakra.

Kasumi and Sasuke passed him without a word, though they kept their eyes on each other the whole time. As soon as the stranger disappeared into the distance and he was sure that they were alone once more, Sasuke turned his attention to Kasumi.

"What's wrong?" He demanded shortly.

She pressed her lips together. "Where's Naruto-san?" Her voice was unusually strained, tense.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but didn't push. Not yet. "Up ahead." He could see the idiot's bright yellow hair.

They passed the distance to their third teammate in silence, not that Sasuke ever let himself forget what had just happened. Flicking a glance at the blonde, he found him sitting on the ground, arms crossed, a stupidly thoughtful look on his face. "This is a weird world..." He mumbled to himself.

Sasuke's eye twitched. What was the dobe doing?!

"Naruto-san." Kasumi called out quietly.

"Oh! Kasumi-chan." Naruto immediately perked up upon seeing Kasumi, though a more petulant look quickly replaced the smile when he spotted Sasuke. "Oi, teme, what are you doing here?"

He snorted dismissively. "Me? Dobe, what are _you_ doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here?!" Naruto waved a fist at him. "_I_ was training."

"Training to be a moron?"

"Why you - !" Naruto glared.

"Boys." Kasumi interrupted calmly. Kneeling down next to Naruto, she stared at him intently, a troubled look in her brown eyes.

Sasuke shifted to turn his attention to her, mentally shelving his natural irritation at Naruto's idiocy for more important matters. Now what? For all that she was classically the one breaking up their fights, Kasumi rarely had _that_ serious of a tone.

Naruto caught it, too. "Kasumi-chan?" He questioned, twisting around to face her.

"That person that came by, just now." She said. "Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned. "He was really nice."

"Can you tell me what he said?" Kasumi questioned, a strange sort of desperation in her voice that she tried to hide.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. What was going on here?

The dobe squinted at her, appearing just as confused. "Uhhh... well, okay." Haltingly, he told them of their conversation, from waking up to find him gathering herbs to protecting their precious people.

Kasumi listened patiently, never interrupting. When he was done, she nodded, a distracted look in her eyes. She thanked him, and without another word, turned right around and wandered deeper into the forest.

Sasuke exchanged a look with the dobe. What the _hell_ was going on here?

**Combination**

They never did find out what bothered Kasumi so much, but Sasuke eventually pushed it to the back of his mind. They were training now, growing stronger, and this... this was what he liked the most.

Even better, it was actually going _well._

"Ready?" The dobe grinned at them, blue eyes bright with excitement.

Sasuke nodded curtly and the corners of Kasumi's mouth tilted up. "Ready." She confirmed quietly, taking a small step to the side so that they would both have enough space to fight.

Naruto nodded back and shaped his fingers into that all too familiar seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He called out, creating a few dozen shadows clones in a poof of smoke. That done, he quickly leapt back and orientated himself next to Kasumi.

Just in time. "HERE WE COME!" His clones shouted, rushing towards the trio of genin recklessly.

"Sasuke-san." Kasumi cued, already performing her own seals. "Water Release: Black Rain Technique." Black oil splattered all over the clones, to their indignation.

The Uchiha bought his hands up, flashing through his seals with an impressive amount of speed. "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" He blew the fireball straight at the clones who yelped and scrambled away.

"Naruto-san."

Naruto grinned brightly and clapped his hands together, chakra swirling around him. "Wind Release: Gale Palm!" He called out, slamming his hands out.

The massive gust of wind blew across the clearing and promptly met with the fireball. The flames swelled up, expanding rapidly, and hastily, they threw up an arm to block out the heat. The resulting mass of flames and fire ignited the oil and thoroughly torched the clones, the pure heatwave affecting even the three genin standing twenty feet away from the attack.

"Wow..." Naruto gaped, eyes wide with awe and pride. Kasumi smiled in satisfaction.

Sasuke simply smirked. _That_ was what he had expected. Of himself... and his teammates.

The fire dissipated eventually and though it was tempting to charge ahead, Sasuke forced himself to stay in place. Kasumi had spent hours pounding into his and the dobe's head that teams were meant to stay together and no, running forward recklessly would not make you look heroic or manly or powerful, just an idiot that would get his team killed.

Naruto had pouted and Sasuke had scowled, but they didn't disregard Kasumi's words.

From the way the dobe was all but vibrating next to him, he assumed that Naruto was having the same problem, but to the hyperactive blonde's credit, he stayed still.

Kasumi inclined her head gently in approval, and Sasuke felt a ridiculous thrill of pleasure. He crushed it mercilessly as soon as he was aware of it; Uchiha Sasuke did not need _anyone's_ approval.

'But that doesn't mean you don't want it...' A small, sly voice in his head purred. He quickly suppressed that voice, too.

"HAH!" The loud, obnoxious voices snapped his attention back to the charred, blackened land where their combination jutsu had burnt out.

Some Naruto clones popped out of ridiculous hiding spots, including one that had transformed itself into a rock and had another throw him out of the line of fire. Sasuke reluctantly admitted to himself that, at least, the dobe was creative. Humph, Naruto was an idiot, but he _was_ Sasuke's rival. It was only right.

"YOU DIDN'T GET ALL OF US!" The clones stuck their tongues out at the three.

Sasuke and Kasumi deadpanned. Naruto glared at his clones, screaming back, "SHUT UP! WE'LL DEFINITELY GET YOU NEXT TIME!"

Never mind. He took it back. Naruto was the dobe and that was that.

"That could be a problem..." Kasumi muttered next to him, and he glanced at her to find her frowning at the nearby shrubbery that had caught on fire. She paused, throwing a glance at him. "Double hit?"

Sasuke smirked. "Go."

Kasumi snapped through several seals. "Water Release: Wild Water Wave." She called out, blowing out a large stream of water.

"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!" Sasuke slammed his hands on the ground, sending a lethal electrical current towards the clones while Naruto stood alert and ready, kunai in hand.

They didn't stand a chance. The water crashed into them violently, easily extinguishing the small traces of fire that still burned on leaves and brushes, and a second later, the electrical current crackled across the water on the ground and painfully electrocuted all the remaining clones.

The cheerful chirping of a nearby bird broke the silence as the trio stared at the remnants of what had been a perfectly healthy, green clearing.

"YATTA!" Naruto spoke first, though shouted would probably be a better term. He grinned so widely that Sasuke was surprised his muscles weren't protesting the abuse and pumping a fist into the air. "THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Kasumi laughed softly, but a smile danced on her lips. Not like Naruto's absurdly large grin, but soft and gentle. And proud.

Sasuke shook his head. "Hn."

But there was a smile on his face, too. Small, barely noticeable, but there.

* * *

_Next time:_

_Kasumi... she knew that she could completely shut down her emotions. Fight with Haku no matter that he had originally been her first friend. But Naruto... she didn't know if he could make the same choice. The blonde was so bright, so vivid, so entrenched in his emotions that she didn't know how he would do this._

* * *

**Me: And the reviews! Thank you all so much!**

**michi-nin: Here ya go! Teamwork for the win! Thank you, thank you! I'm so happy you like my story! Hope you enjoyed this chapter~**

**FilleDePluie: Oh, that's good! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**starrat: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for the review!**

**Nikita: Oh, thank you! You're going to make me blush! I love tvtropes. And fandoms. And random stuff. My parents despair. Kasumi and Sasuke are both painfully stubborn people so I guess we'll have to see where this goes! I fixed that little mistake - at least, I saw a mistake and fixed it - so thank you very much!**

**Bella-swan11: Sasuke can be jealous, but I don't think he's gotten to that stage yet. Jelly Sasuke would be cute though... Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Serenity10116: Thank you for all of the reviews, sweetie! Hope you liked this chapter~**

**NothingNooneZero: Kyaa! Thank you! Your review literally made my day. I'm delighted you like my story. Thank you for your beautiful review, hun!**

**Guest: Lolz, Sasuke is cute when he's confused. Thanks for your review!**

**Question: What in the world is up with Kasumi and Haku?**


	13. Haku

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

**Naruto: Huh? No one owns me!**

**Me: Err...actually... *mumbles something under breath***

**Naruto: Hmm? What was that?**

**Me: Kishimoto owns you! *runs away***

**Naruto:... Who's he?**

**Kasumi: Ahem. Please check out Author-chan's blog and review. **

* * *

**Return**

"Ok! Let's go!" Tazuna nodded decisively.

"Naruto-san." Kasumi muttered softly, dropping back to talk to the blonde, who looked at her with curious blue eyes. "Create some clones and station them here."

He frowned, brow furrowing, but did as she said. Subtly - it was a long, hard, tedious process, but Kasumi liked to think that she was teaching Naruto _some_ subtlety - he created several dozen clones that scattered themselves around the house. That done, he glanced at her, confusion swirling on his face. "Why?"

"Because this is a target." She replied patiently. "Previously, all three of us were here while Kakashi-sensei guarded Tazuna-san. But now that we're all going, there's no one here if things go wrong."

"Ooohhh!" A lightbulb lit up on top of Naruto's head. "I see." He nodded sagely.

Walking in front of them, Sasuke scoffed. "Dobe."

"What was that, you teme?"

Kasumi sighed and did her best to tune out her boys' bickering. She had a bad feeling about today... and that never went well. She raised a hand to rub at her temple, feeling a headache pounding against her skull.

To her relief, they did fall silent during most of the walk towards the bridge. She wondered if Naruto and Sasuke were simply lost in their own thoughts or if they had managed to pick up on her own unease. Weeks ago, she would surely have thought the former was true... but things were different now.

Naturally, everything changed when they actually reached the bridge itself.

"Wh-What's this?!" Tazuna screamed, stopping dead in his tracks.

Staring at the devastation in front of her, Kasumi could understand why. She took in the fallen bridge builders with calm detachment, noting their wounds and their positions. _Taken by surprise, blunt force trauma, defeated in quick succession..._

Beside her, Naruto gulped loudly, a bead of sweat dolling down his forehead. Sasuke surveyed the chaos neutrally, but there was a hardness in his eyes.

"What?!" Tazuna demanded, holding one of his coworkers up. "What happened?!"

"A monster..." The man groaned weakly.

Shit. Kasumi clenched her jaw tightly, her headache disappearing even as her danger sense started to scream. 'They're back...' She had known; they had all known; - that Zabuza would be back, but knowing and _knowing_ wasn't the same thing.

A thick, dense fog that practically reeked of chakra drifted around them and began to settle over the entire area. This wasn't good.

"Here they come!" Kakashi warned even as they rapidly assembled into formation, surrounding Tazuna. Sasuke already had a kunai out and clenched in his hand; Naruto frantically followed his example.

Kasumi narrowed her eyes and steadied herself. If she had penned this right, this was going to be brutal.

"Long time no see, Kakashi." Zabuza purred from out of sight, tone all but rolling with menace and danger.

**Haku**

"I see you're still with those brats." Zabuza commented from somewhere in the mist. "He's shaking again... poor kid."

Shaking? Discreetly, Kasumi glanced at her teammates, making sure to keep her senses sharp and aware, and realized to her surprise that _Sasuke_ was shaking, trembling slightly. She stared at him with muted shock; Uchiha Sasuke was not one to openly show weakness or be cowed by fear.

The mist parted without warning and Kasumi thanked the nerves of steel that she had developed when she found herself staring straight at a kneeling Zabuza clone, smirking up at her cruelly. She narrowed her eyes at it and glanced around to find clones everywhere; in front of them all and even one inside their little diamond, staring down a sweating Tazuna.

Her mind raced. Water clones, she identified easily. Not that bad; take out the one in front of her first, it had the most potential for harm; it was far enough that it could swing that enormous sword and actually hurt her before she did anything and then the one in the middle because it was so close to Tazuna, their client, and then the boys would take out...

"I'm not shaking from fear." Sasuke stated with a smirk, unintentionally interrupting her thought process. She glanced at him to find him looking quite unperturbed despite the clones that had shown up on all sides. "I'm shaking from excitement!"

Ah. That certainly made sense. Kasumi mentally rolled her eyes. Sasuke never changed, did he? Still as arrogant as ever... though thankfully, he got along better with her and Naruto now.

Naturally, Naruto wasn't quite that composed. Nowhere near it, in fact. "OI!" He jerked back, eyes bugging out of his head, and pointed a belligerent finger at the Zabuza clone right in front of him. "Where did you come from?!"

There was a moment when everyone on the bridge just sweatdropped. 'What sort of ninja is he...?'

"Naruto-san..." Kasumi muttered in exasperation, making a mental note to expose her teammate to some shock stimuli once they got back to Konoha.

"Dobe." Sasuke deadpanned.

"What was that, teme?" Naruto swung around to glare at the Uchiha who glared right back.

"You're such an idiot." He replied, blank-faced.

'What the hell...?' Zabuza's eye twitched from where he was still hiding in the mist.

'Naruto will be Naruto...' Kakashi sighed. 'Nevertheless, we need to get this show on the road.'

"Naruto. Sasuke." He said and immediately, both boys snapped their attention to him, all business now. He eye-smiled; that was better. "Do it."

Both boys nodded seriously, disappearing in a blur of navy and orange. Kasumi was content to watch calmly as her teammates utterly obliterated the Zabuza clones, only stepping up to take out the one in front of her, but leaving the rest for them.

She wasn't fool enough to think that her male teammates weren't showing off or competing with each other or feeding their egos, but she didn't really care. Kasumi had no need to prove her worth; she knew when to take care of things and when to let her teammates stretch their abilities.

Appearing back in their positions as quickly as they had disappeared, Naruto and Sasuke smirked triumphantly at each other. She simply shook her head; they were such _boys._ Then again, what had she expected?

"Hmm... they saw through the clones." Zabuza took a step forward from where he had come into view from further up the bridge. "Those brats have grown."

"It looks like some rivals have appeared...eh, Haku?" He didn't turn around, but it was obvious that he was addressing the masked person a step behind him.

Kasumi's eyes widened. _Haku?_

"It does indeed." Haku replied coolly.

_Oh... oh no. _She had suspected, but...

"... Haku?" Naruto spoke up hesitantly, evidently remembering the name from his little encounter in the forest. Kasumi glanced at him and found a surprising vulnerability in the blonde's cerulean blue eyes.

Her mind rapidly stomped on the break. Why was Naruto... ah. That conversation, she had been so occupied with trying to identify the person that he had been speaking to that she had utterly ignored just how much of an impact that conversation had had on Naruto.

For her teammate to realize that the kind, insightful person he had been talking to was with the enemy... this battle was going to be tough. From the looks of it, only Sasuke had no attachment to their opponents at all.

Kasumi... she knew that she could completely shut down her emotions. Fight with Haku no matter that he had originally been her first friend. But Naruto... she didn't know if he could make the same choice. The blonde was so bright, so vivid, so entrenched in his emotions that she didn't know how he would do this.

Haku removed his mask, a small smile on his feminine face. "Hello, Naruto. I told you we would meet once more."

"You... you, but why?" Naruto asked, audible confusion in his voice. "Why... are you working for Gato?!

Haku's smile fell a bit, but he shook his head. "It's necessary, Naruto. In the world of shinobi, sometimes you must do things that seem distasteful or unpleasant. Gato... working for him is necessary."

"Necessary?!" Naruto shouted, plainly angry now. "_Necessary?! _Have you seen this town? Do you know what he's doing to the people, to the _children_?! How is that, in any way, necessary?"

"Enough." Zabuza cut in, appearing bored. "Haku."

Haku leapt forward.

**Hostage**

"Where do you guys think you're going?" 'Naruto' stood in front of the door with his feet spread, arms crossed, a scowl firmly in place as he tried to stare down the two strange-looking men. Since he was much shorter than the both of them, it didn't work out too well.

One of them scoffed and laid a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Get out of our way, loser ninja."

"Not a chance." He said bluntly. "What are you doing here?!"

"We're here for Tazuna's daughter." The other said and swiftly slid out his sword, slicing 'Naruto' in half before he could react.

"Humph. What a sissy." They walked on, leaving the two parts of 'Naruto' to fall to the ground. And disappear in a poof of smoke that they didn't notice.

"She better be in..." One grouched, placing a hand on the doorknob.

"Yeah, well, you're never going to see her!"

"Oh, shut up, loser... ninja..." They slowly froze, turned back, and had barely managed to comprehend the _orange_, before they were promptly met with a boot to the face for each. Nose breaking from the force, blood spilling in the air, they crashed against the door, the poorly structured entrance falling down with a loud crash.

"Wha..." Tsunami came running at the sound and gaped at the two unconscious thugs in her doorway. Lost, she turned to stare incredulously at the two grinning Naruto clones.

"Eeh...sorry about that, Tsunami-san." The one on the right smiled, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, we sorta went a little too far..." The one on the left rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Oh." Tsunami placed a hand over her pounding heart, face paling. "Oh, no, it's just fine." More than fine - what was a door compared to her and Inari's life? - but she was trying to comprehend just what _could_ have happened.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Inari ran in on the scene, looking terrified and worried.

"Oh, Inari!" Tsunami enveloped her only son in a fierce hug, tears falling down from her eyes.

"Mom?" He hugged her back, but stared at her with wide, concerned eyes. "Mom, are you okay?"

"I'm alright." She assured him, still petrified at the realization of what would have happened had the Naruto clones not existed. "They saved me."

"Really?" Inari looked at the smiling clones.

"Yeah!" One knelt next to the pair, grinning cheerfully. "You have a really nice mom, you know.

"Mm-hm." The other gave them both a thumbs-up. "You can count on us!"

Looking into their smiles, their easy confidence, Inari felt a bud of hope. Maybe... maybe heroes existed after all.

**Speed**

Sasuke and Haku clashed on the bridge, sparks flying as his kunai connected with the masked boy's senbon. They whirled around at high speeds, appearing as blurs to Tazuna's eyesight.

Kasumi and Naruto watched, the latter only restrained by the former. She knew that Naruto wanted in on the fight, but she had grabbed his wrist when he made a move to go forward and arrested his movement with a look.

She believed in Naruto's strength, certainly, but this was a battle of speed and Naruto's forte was his unpredictability, creativity, and brute strength. Out of their team, Kasumi was still the fastest, although Sasuke was quickly catching up. Even more damning were Naruto's own emotions: Kasumi was far too aware that sometimes, Naruto just didn't think when he was upset.

She was also deeply conflicted in what to do in this situation, but she had more than enough experience in making decisions untainted by emotion. In some ways, it was one of her greatest strengths, but she knew that, compared to her teammates, it could also be a powerful weakness.

Naruto probably would be fighting against Haku later, but for now, she held him back, simply observing the battle.

"I don't want to have to kill, but you won't stand down, will you?" Haku said casually as they tried to overpower each other. Stalemate, Kasumi thought to herself.

"Don't be foolish." Sasuke replied arrogantly.

"I see... but you won't be able to keep up with my speed the next time." Haku retorted. "Plus, I've already gained two advantages."

"Two advantages?" Sasuke questioned even as Kasumi's eyes flickered over the water from all of the dispelled clones on the bridge. Something was tugging at her memory - what had that bloodline been again...? He had told her once, but she had forgotten it in the blood that came afterwards.

"The first is the water on the ground. And the second is that I have occupied one of your arms." Haku said, referring to the deadlock that was Sasuke's kunai against his senbon.

"You will now only be able to run from my attacks." He proclaimed, raising his hand to his mask and shaping his fingers into multiple seals. Kasumi's eyes widened. A one-handed seal?!

"Special Jutsu: Flying Water Needles."

Stopping on a specific hand-seal, Haku stomped one foot on the ground and all of the water on the ground rose up into the air, solidifying into large water needles that surrounded Sasuke on all sides.

Alright. Kasumi quickly made the decision that they had stood on the sidelines for too long. Sasuke was strong and he was trapped, but he wasn't alone.

"Naruto-san." She said softly.

Naruto nodded and bought his hands up. They had rehearsed this enough times that both of her boys instinctively knew what she wanted when she called their names. It came in handy during fights. "Wind Release: Gale Palm!" He slammed his hands out, calling up a fierce, violent gale that tore towards Sasuke and Haku.

**Trust**

"Are you not going to move?" Haku asked Sasuke quietly.

The Uchiha shook his head, smirking even as the sharp, lethal projectiles came ever closer. "I don't have to."

The sheer force of the wind shattered the water needles when it hit and sensing the surprise of his opponent by the way he tensed, Sasuke pushed hard against Haku. He jumped away, the mask doing nothing to hide the shock his body language screamed.

Sasuke smirked. Having a team was damn useful. Pressing his advantage, he pushed off the bridge and appeared behind Haku. "You're pretty slow... from now on, you will only be able to run from my attacks." He said in an ironic repeat of what Haku had said to him earlier, lifting his kunai.

As Haku turned rapidly, Sasuke struck out, kunai in each hand. Haku dodged under both blows, but was utterly unprepared when he threw one of the kunai, resulting in a large lock of his hair being cut off. Lashing out with his foot, Sasuke kicked Haku some ten feet away, in a gush of blood.

Zabuza stiffened, looking at his fallen discipline with visible shock.

"Looks like I have the advantage in speed." Sasuke commented, straightening up.

"Show-off." He heard Naruto mutter behind him and he smirked in amusement.

"I can't have you underestimating my team by calling them 'brats'." Kakashi said calmly. "Sasuke is the Leaf Village's #1 Rookie. Kasumi is the most intelligent kunoichi and Naruto is the #1 most hyperactive, unpredictable ninja in the Village."

Sasuke smirked proudly, basking in his sensei's praise. Normally, he didn't care about compliments - especially from adults, he had received plenty of those since That Day - but this was Copycat Kakashi, his sensei, a former Anbu, an A-class shinobi. Sasuke could accept a compliment from him without feeling like a fraud.

"Hahaha..." Naruto laughed nervously, but there was a pleased grin on his face and he was rubbing the back of his neck. Sasuke inwardly snorted. What a dobe... but the thought was fond.

His eyes flickered to Kasumi and he promptly felt his senses go on high-alert. His female teammate didn't seem to have heard Kakashi at all; she was staring past at him with disturbing amounts of panic in those chocolate colored eyes. She took a step towards him, a frown forming on her lips.

Sasuke snapped his attention back to their opponents as Zabuza began to laugh, low and cruel. "Haku, do you realize? At this rate, we'll be driven back." He said.

Sasuke heard more than saw Kasumi take another step towards him.

"Yeah." Haku rose to his feet, chakra rising off of him. "We can't have that..."

"Naruto-san, clones!" Kasumi snapped out behind him.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

He had the brief second to wonder just what Kasumi was doing, before Haku formed his fingers up in yet another seal. A shift at his feet had Sasuke suddenly looking down to see the water on the ground rising up and forming into an ice rectangle. Shit. Now what?

_Tap._

Sasuke glanced to his right to see Kasumi materialize with Naruto at her side - a clone, he assumed. When she rose to her feet, tugging the clone along with her, Kasumi's face was harder than he had ever seen it.

And then he proceeded to stop paying attention to his teammate and to the dome of floating ice mirrors they found themselves trapped in.

"Special Jutsu: Demonic Ice Mirrors."

**Entrapped**

Kasumi had a fleeting moment of self-disdain. Up to that point, she had completely blanked out on what Haku's bloodline was. The only reason she had decided to enter the fight was because her danger sense had been screeching at that point and she had figured better safe than sorry.

The Ice Release... so nostalgic and dangerous.

Quickly shaking off the disturbing memories, because she was in danger and Sasuke was in danger and those ice mirrors were a problem that she needed to figure out. Now was hardly the time to have a trip down memory lane and she turned to the clone that she had Naruto create.

"Create more clones to guard Tazuna-san." She hissed in the clone's ear as Haku stepped into one of the mirrors, reflections appearing everywhere. "Do_ not_ enter this structure; stay outside and I'll tell you what to do. Dispel now."

The clone nodded solemnly and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"It's useless."

Kasumi narrowed her eyes at the countless reflections of Haku that faced them. Some of them were right side up, but others were horizontal, upside down... it was all terribly confusing and disorientating.

"Kasumi...?" Sasuke glanced at her and she shook her head. She had little knowledge of the users of the Ice Release and no knowledge of this particular jutsu at all. It was best for them to simply stay put and see how this would play out. Charging straight at the mirrors when they knew nothing about how Haku could attack them was downright suicidal.

"Were shall I begin?" His voice echoed throughout the dome of ice mirrors, making it impossible to see the real opponent. Kasumi's eyes widened as the Hakus each raised a senbon; oh, God, she had the feeling she knew what was coming.

_Incoming! Incoming! Incoming!_

A moment later, a cut appeared on her arm. Her face, her neck, her legs, her arms, tearing through her clothing and cutting straight across her skin. Kasumi gasped, curling up instinctively as she was bombarded with attacks from the needles, what felt like thousands of cuts appearing on her pale skin in seconds.

"AHH!" Distantly, through the haze of pain, she heard Sasuke scream and she realized that he was being attacked, too. Not surprising, the still-working part of her mind informed her, but most of her concentration was spent on trying to protect herself from the barrage of attacks.

It _hurt_ and despite herself, Kasumi found herself crying out as the pain tore at her composure, her ability to _think_. It didn't help that her bloodline continued to howl at her; yes, she knew that the opponent was attacking her and she knew that increasingly deadly senbon were slicing through her skin, but she didn't know how to stop it!

A minute later, an eternity later, she couldn't tell the difference, the attack finally stopped and gasping, Kasumi fell to one knee on the cold, hard ground. A cool gust of wind blew across her skin and she flinched. Lord, that hurt.

_Okay._ Okay. Stay put and see how it plays out = bad idea. Very bad idea. Note to self: do not do that again. Why in the world had Haku stopped his attack? She wanted to hope that he was still that sweet, kind boy that she known in her childhood, but her logical mind flatly refused.

There was no point in trying to find her long-ago friend in this stranger seeking to kill her and her teammates.

Glancing around, she noted that Sasuke was keeling next to her, also looking exhausted and in a great deal of pain. Wait, were those footsteps coming closer...?

"Kasumi-chan! Teme!" Naruto called from beyond the mirrors, sounding worried.

Oh. Bad.

"Naruto-san, don't -!" Kasumi called back, but it was too late. Naruto tore straight into the dome of mirrors at a dead-run and skid to a halt in front of his teammates.

"Hey!" He gasped out, blue eyes wide as he took in their ragged state. "Are you guys okay?!"

Kasumi wasn't particularly concerned with her state of being at the moment.

"What do you think you're _doing?!" _She hissed at Naruto, angrier than she had been for a long time. There went a great deal of her plans - she had originally been planning for Sasuke and Naruto to launch a double attack with either ninjutsu or in a pinch, taijutsu, but that was obviously out of the question now.

Sasuke was just as infuriated. _"_You absolute _idiot!_ Did you use your brain at all?!_"_

Naruto looked a little hurt at their reactions, but there was a determined glint in his eyes. "I'm not going to let him hurt you." He stated firmly, turning to face the mirrors. "Oi, Haku!"

"Naruto. You should have kept out of this." Haku replied, raising his senbon once more.

"I don't care who you are! Don't you dare hurt my teammates!" Naruto retorted, forming his fingers into a familiar seal.

It was a distraction. Kasumi took it. Subtly, she glanced up and caught Sasuke's eye. She nodded to him, quick and curt. Sasuke's eyes sharpened and a glint of excitement appeared in those dark, dark eyes.

She had known that Sasuke had been eager, more than eager, to test out his Sharingan in combat. She hadn't wanted to, not in this fight where they were so clearly outclassed and anything could go wrong, but it was plainly obvious they needed to step it up a little.

Kasumi didn't know whether Haku recognized her or not, but if he did, he wasn't showing it. Other than not outright killing her, of course, but that didn't count on his side.

It was entirely possible that Naruto would fall to the same fate.

* * *

_Next time:  
_

_Lethal. It would have been a lethal blow._

_Kasumi froze. Plain out froze. A second later, her training, her logic, her poise slammed back into her, but only for her to comprehend exactly how stupid she was._

* * *

**Me: The reviews!  
**

**ZabuzasGirl: No worries! Doing my very best; thanks for the review!**

**Nikita: Hmm... Kasumi might actually be pulling herself together! Maybe. Sasuke and Naruto are hilarious when they're bickering, aren't they? :3 Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Seere Klein: Oh, thank you! Well, they are only 12 years olds right now. The teamwork thing is more central than the romance at his point. Kasumi, hmm, I don't know how she would react with romantic stuff. Guess we have to wait and see! **

** Kasuke. Hagase: Maybe...? Lolz, thanks for the review, hun!**

**Bella-swan11: Ah, but we all know how impulsive those two are, neh? Sasuke is still being the Ice Prince right now. Let's see if we can get him to thaw later. Thanks for the review!**

**bluefrost15: I'm doing my best! So happy to know you like my story; hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Me: So... cause it's Spring Break, I have taken it upon myself to update everyday until Spring Break is over! I wonder if I'll do AS before school stars again...? Ah well, we'll see! Umm... visit my blog and review please?**


	14. Fumei

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

**Kasumi: Mm-hm.**

**Me: I've been doing a good job of updating!**

**Kasumi: Mm-hm.**

**Me: Review and take a look at my blog!**

**Kasumi: Mm-hm.**

**Me: ... I am a flying squirrel.**

**Kasumi: Mm-hm.**

**Me: ^_^lll**

* * *

_Last time:  
_

_Kasumi didn't know whether Haku recognized her or not, but if he did, he wasn't showing it. Other than not outright killing her, of course, but that didn't count on his side._

_It was entirely possible that Naruto would fall to the same fate._

* * *

**Struggle**

A twist of chakra and Kasumi watched as Sasuke's black eyes morphed into the red and black of the Sharingan. He still only had one-tomoe eyes, but it would be enough.

She hoped it would be enough.

"You can not defeat me." Haku said and, distantly, she wondered if there was a note of regret in his voice. "No matter how hard you try."

"That's what you think!" Naruto retorted. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Gritting her teeth, Kasumi forced herself to her feet, reaching for the solid, implacable will that had led her to survive her blood-stained childhood. Beside her, Sasuke straightened up as well as Naruto spammed clones, the closed off area suddenly a sea of orange.

"Kasumi-chan?" Naruto glanced at her questioningly. While none of the boys lacked in confidence, they had grown used to her calling the stakes, had come to the conclusion that it was better to listen to her than not. It had taken more than a few missions for her to slam that into their thick skulls and she was more than glad she had taken the time to do so.

There had been that time with the squirrels... and then the out-of-control skunks... yes, it had taken some time.

"Attack the mirrors. Each and every one." She said, frantically taking in their situation. "Naruto-san, stay here. Sasuke-san, _watch_."

Naruto frowned, but moved back so he was standing near them and Sasuke directed a short nod towards her before turning towards the mirrors.

"YOSH! WE'VE GOT THIS!" The clones cried as one and leapt for the mirrors. She thought she might have heard Haku sigh, but if he had, it was quickly covered up by the poofs and clouds of smoke that appeared erratically in position, but all too consistently in timing.

Kasumi watched calmly as Haku systematically and methodically took down every single one of the dozens of clones that Naruto had created, his body flying at incredible speeds. She wasn't fool enough to think that she could track Haku's movements - only Sasuke had a chance of doing that - but if there was a pattern or a plan or anything important...

"Damn." Naruto muttered as the last clone disappeared in a poof of smoke. Sasuke said nothing, but he continued to stare intently at the mirrors.

"Sasuke-san?" She prompted him, trying to work out what they could do if he couldn't follow Haku's movements. The Uchiha had fire jutsu, but she had the feeling it wouldn't work on Haku's mirrors.

No one had ever told her such a thing, it was just a feeling, but she didn't question it.

He glanced at her, a frown pulling at his lips. "A little." He said. "Just a little."

_I need more time._

The words went unspoken, but she heard them. Exhaling harshly, Kasumi considered what they could do.

"I told you, it's useless." Haku said.

She ignored him - taunts by the enemy were typically untrue - but Naruto flamed up, fisting his hands. "Shut up!" He shouted. "We'll beat you, you'll see!"

"You can not defeat me." The reflections shifted and Kasumi's eyes widened as she saw Haku reappear in the reflection before them, the senbon held in his hands again.

No, no, no, no. Another barrage would not -

"Sasuke-san, fire. Naruto-san, wind." She snapped out, already going through hand-seals.

They didn't stop to question her.

"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique!" Sasuke blew the fireball towards the mirrors in front of them just as Naruto slammed his hands together.

Momentarily, Kasumi thanked the stars that they had spent so much time on combination attacks.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!" Naruto easily sent a large, compressed gust of wind towards the fireball and Kasumi finished her hand-seals.

This was probably going to be useless, but it was a distraction. And Sasuke's Sharingan or not, they needed to avoid another attack like the first one.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Kasumi's technique was a bit different than Naruto's. For one, it required hand-seals. That meant it took longer to cast, true, but it also meant something else.

She could control her jutsu a great deal more than Naruto ever would, and she had spent weeks learning how to do exactly that. One of her primary worries in doing such a large combination attack was that they had never done this before. Sasuke and her, yes. Sasuke and Naruto, yes. Naruto and her, yes.

But never all three of them together.

So much could go wrong; she didn't even have time to think through all the possibilities. Chakra naturally reflected the source it came from and as Kakashi had explained to them earlier, combination attacks worked best if the casters had spent a significant amount of time working together and could, at least, tolerate each other.

Kasumi liked to think that her team was much better than it had been when it came to getting along and cooperation, but she was also aware that Team 10, for one, meshed together much better. Granted, they had been friends since childhood - although Ino sometimes didn't act like it - but the example still applied.

There there was how the single fire jutsu and double wind jutsu would work out. She knew that the ratio of elements in a combination attack was important; if the wind was too strong, it would completely blow out the fire. She hadn't discussed this with her teammates - she had the feeling Naruto wouldn't understand most of the mechanics of it anyways - but she had the feeling that they had been aware nevertheless.

Maybe not entirely consciously, for Naruto's part, but they had known and acted on it. Through practice and repetition, they had learned to regulate the amount they gave off in a combination jutu. Sasuke would pour a little more in his jutsu than normal, perhaps, or she would pull back a little on the amount of chakra she put behind in hers.

This was different.

Kasumi had already been able to see that Sasuke had pumped a larger than usual amount of chakra in his fire jutsu - likely in response to the fact that he, too, knew they would be going through another torture session via senbon if they messed this up - and in response, although he had probably done it instinctively, Naruto had thrown a great deal of chakra behind his jutsu, as well.

So, this time, she kept the chakra she pushed into her jutsu small, just enough that the jutsu came out, but came out as a soft blast of wind, rather than a mighty cyclone. It would be just enough as a booster.

Or so she hoped.

The wind gale that Naruto had created crashed into Sasuke's fireball a mere two feet away from the mirrors and Kasumi's breeze hit not long after, providing, as she had counted on, a decent accelerator, but not overwhelming the fire altogether. Frankly, it went better than her most optimistic wishes.

The massive firestorm that their combined techniques had created smashed against the ice mirrors and became a battle of dominance; fire vs. ice. As Kasumi had expected, the ice mirrors _wouldn't _melt, but the fire had enough force going for it that it didn't automatically dispel either.

It was a reprieve. A short one, most likely, but she would take it.

"Naruto-san, more clones. We're going to need some cover when the fire burns out." She ordered quietly. "Sasuke-san, keep trying to track him."

Both boys nodded curtly, too used to taking commands from her that their pride could take it. Forming his fingers into the usual seal, Naruto effortlessly created several more dozens of clones. Kasumi and Sasuke didn't bat an eyelid; they were too used to this from the common spars.

"You can't melt this ice with that level of fire." Haku said complacently from behind them. Acting on instinct, all of them whirled around and the clones formed a barrier of orange outfits around the trio, kunai raised.

"That... won't help you." Haku informed them and disappeared. Sasuke muttered a quick curse and Kasumi knew without another word that they were in a great deal of trouble.

A millisecond later, every single one of the clones dispelled, and cuts, sharp and painful, began to appear on their skin.

"UGH!" Naruto, the one who had remained untouched until this point, fell back, his arms no protection as evidenced by the multiple cuts on his face.

"ARGH!" Sasuke closed his eyes against the agony of it, despite himself, she could tell. He cringed back, obviously overwhelmed by the sheer pain of it all.

Kasumi grimaced, cried out softly against the abuse to her poor body, fought against her own instinctive reaction to curl into a ball and close her eyes and simply shut the world out. This was a fight and her teammates still needed her; she couldn't _afford_ to be selfish. It helped that even though, previously, she had succumbed to the mind-numbing torture, she had experienced pain enough times that she had built up a slight immunity to it.

Not much, not enough that she had been able to stand the former attack's unexpected pain and still plan, still _think_, but enough.

Just enough.

**Fumei**

"Sasuke-san!" She made her voice sharp, because although she wanted to comfort and shield and protect her teammates - they were so innocent, of battle and blood and evil and _humanity_ \- they were ninja, even if only genin, and her equals, and her _team_, and they couldn't let Haku continue like this. "Eyes_ open_!"

It said something about how far they had come that Sasuke immediately obeyed although his every instinct must have been screaming in denial.

His eyes snapped open, quietly frantic Sharingan eyes swiftly focusing on her. He didn't know what to do. Sasuke Uchiha, genius, #1 rookie, always cool and collected and composed, didn't know what to do.

Kasumi sympathized. She didn't know what to do, either. But, this was _her _role and damn if she was going to let her boys down after they had come so far. "_Focus_." She demanded, throwing every ounce of confidence and calm that she had into that single word. She was proud of herself when her voice didn't break even as a painful cut emerged on her upper arm.

For a second, Sasuke looked surprised, but then, a long cut appeared on his leg and it was gone. Jaw locking, he nodded and directed his dojutsu at the mirrors that surrounded them. Ignoring the wounds that showed up on her skin again and again with pure strength of will - one that had been honed during hours and hours of running and running without end - Kasumi glanced at Naruto.

The poor blonde had fallen to the ground, curling into himself, clearly unprepared for the relentless assault. Heart clenching, Kasumi slowly crawled across the few feet that separated them, wincing as her movements shot needles of pain through her entire body.

She had finally gotten close enough to touch him when Sasuke spoke up, a note of jubilation in his voice that had been absent before. "I can see him!" Startled, reluctantly hopeful, Kasumi glanced back to see her dark-haired teammate grinning triumphantly, a kunai in his hand.

As she watched, his eyes focused visibly on something that she couldn't see. A moment later, he moved and managed to _block_ the senbon aimed to slice through his side.

She could all but feel Haku's surprise as he returned to a mirror higher up in a blur. Hope a quiet flame inside her heart - maybe they would survive this - Kasumi took advantage of the interlude and gently touched a finger to Naruto's bleeding wrist.

"Naruto-san." She called gently. Kasumi could hesitantly admit that she was a bit worried about the blonde, she had never seen him look so defeated, but physically, she was aware that he was most likely better off than both herself and Sasuke. He was _its_ container, after all.

Naruto stirred with a groan, looking at her with wide blue eyes. "Kasumi-chan...?" He asked weakly.

"Hush." She told him. "Create a few more clones. Use them to cover yourself while Sasuke-san gets the hang of his Sharingan."

The blonde frowned, looking peeved that his rival was doing all of the manly work, but pushed himself to his knees, making a pained face. Forming his fingers into the tiger seal with noticeable discomfort, he created several clones that instantly spread themselves over the original in a veritable safety blanket.

Satisfied, Kasumi was turning her attention back to the task of figuring out how to get them out of this death trap when Sasuke's shout caught her attention.

"Kasumi!" He yelled, running straight towards them. At the same time, her bloodline, which had been blasting loudly in her mind without pause, to the extent that she had blocked it out for her own sanity, shrieked shrilly, almost painfully.

She didn't need to analyze the situation to know what had Sasuke sounding so uncharacteristically worried.

It was a good thing Sasuke was unusually fast - she blamed her dulled reflexes on shock. He skidded to a halt in front of her and a pale Naruto just in time to deflect a senbon that would have gone straight through her chest if he hadn't stopped it.

Lethal. It would have been a lethal blow.

Kasumi froze. Plain out froze. A second later, her training, her logic, her poise slammed back into her, but only for her to comprehend exactly how stupid she was.

Consciously, or unconsciously, she had figured that since Sasuke had picked up the ability to see through Haku's level of speed, he would be able to take care of him. Or at the very least, keep him occupied. While she had been talking with Naruto, she had totally overlooked Sasuke's interactions with Haku and she had almost paid for it with her life.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_. She was so stupid.

"Kasumi-chan?" She didn't know what he saw on her face, but Naruto touched her hand cautiously, cerulean blue eyes clearly concerned. His voice bought her out of her trance, reminded her that she didn't have enough time to focus on how utterly idiotic she had been, because her teammates were still counting on her to get them out of here.

"I'm okay." She assured him automatically. Rising to her feet with some difficulty, she glanced at Sasuke who was standing in front of them, kunai held firmly in hand, face set with determination. He shot her a questioning look.

"I'm okay." Kasumi repeated. "Thank you." She added, a little quieter.

Sasuke, being Sasuke, grunted in response, hard Sharingan eyes continuously sweeping across the mirrors in preparation for the next attack.

"So, you _can_ see through my attacks." Haku commented and Kasumi felt her heart drop at the lurking darkness in their opponent's voice. "The famed Sharingan... yes, it makes sense."

"And you..." He turned to stare directly at Kasumi. She stared back defiantly, carefully masking the nausea that rolled in her stomach at meeting those familiar eyes. "You are the leader. Without you, your teammates would cease fighting."

She knew he was wrong. She was the one who made up the plans, yes, she was the one who coordinated their team and yes, the boys listened to her commands, but if she was out of the equation, they would continue to fight. Sasuke and Naruto were not the types to give up.

But... that Haku thought that... Kasumi bit her lip. This was bad. It meant she was the absolute target and against an opponent of Haku's caliber...

Sasuke tensed, scowling. Next to the kunoichi, gritting his teeth, Naruto got to his feet to face Haku, eyes blazing. "Oi! Haku! Don't touch Kasumi-chan!"

Haku frowned, shook his head. "Becoming a shinobi is hard for me." He admitted sadly. "If possible, I don't want to kill you, any of you." This, of course, was directed at Kasumi and she narrowed her eyes. "Nor want you to kill me. But since you insist on continuing your assault, I can destroy my kind heart with a blade and become a true shinobi. Sustain this fight and I _will_ kill you." He looked directly at Kasumi and it was clear, now, what his objective would be.

Naruto set his jaw, shifting into a defensive position in front of Kasumi with a kunai in his hand as his clones spread out, forming a protective circle around them. "You're _not_ touching Kasumi-chan!" He declared firmly.

Sasuke said nothing, but they sensed his agreement in the way he subtly shifted so he covered their female teammate's other side. The boys exchanged a look and turned to glare death daggers at the mirrors.

Oh, dear. If Kasumi hadn't been trying to stave off her impeding horror, she would have been terribly exasperated. She already had to deal with an overprotective brother; she did not need overprotective teammates. Granted, in this situation, their reaction was, somewhat, reasonable, but she had the suspicious feeling this hovering would extend beyond this mission.

If they made it out, of course.

She took a deep breath and forcibly wrenched her run-away thoughts back on track. Alright, she had Haku out to potentially kill her, he was incredibly fast, and Sasuke was barely able to see him.

The odds weren't in their favor. Or to be more exact, her favor.

"You can't stop me." Haku whispered, but everyone heard him. An instant later, Sasuke cursed under his breath and they were all suddenly being attacked by a hail of senbon.

If Kasumi had thought the attacks from before had been bad, it was nothing compared to what Haku showered them with now. Barely a minute in and she had a senbon sticking out of her ankle, her upper leg, her shoulder, her right hand.

As expected, the boys did their best to shield her, but Sasuke could only do so much and the majority of Naruto's clones had been decimated in the first few seconds. The rest weren't far behind. Naruto, the real one, looked like a porcupine with the amount of senbon sticking out of him.

"Damn." Sasuke gasped, looking like he wanted to collapse but couldn't bring himself to. Kasumi felt the same way, but-

_Left! Left, left, left! **Left!**_

"Augh!" Kasumi dove to the right, the ominously glinting senbon missing her neck by an inch at most. Coming up on a roll, she found herself in front of the mirror that contained Haku.

He was frowning at her. "So... you can sense it, too."

She felt her blood freeze. There was no way for this to turn out well. Clenching her teeth, she reached down into herself, unwilling to lose, and found the last vestiges of her courage.

"You're not going to win." Kasumi said softly. And it wasn't a boast or fake bravo, because she knew Naruto and Sasuke well enough to know that even if Haku succeeded in killing her, they wouldn't give up. Far from it.

He locked eyes with her. "We shall see." Was all he said before he disappeared again.

"Get back!" Sasuke shouted at her a moment later and she obeyed without a second thought, throwing herself in a backwards, one-handed handspring, and coming up on her feet as a senbon thudded into the ground where she had been.

Fleetingly, she wondered if this was how the boys felt when she gave them orders, but quickly abandoned that train of though when Naruto cried out in pain, a senbon hitting him hard on the knee. Whirling towards the sound, she found the blonde on the ground, Sasuke standing guard in front of him.

"Idiot." He muttered, but there was more worry in it than anything else.

"I'm sorry." Haku said, appearing truly distressed. "But my chakra is being depleted from my jutsu fast and I must end this."

He paused and looked straight into Kasumi's deep brown eyes. "Wouldn't you agree..." He said gently and she paled, feeling a cold shiver go down her spine. No, no, _stop_! "... Kasumi Fumei?"

Fumei. Fumei. **Fumei.**

The name, the surname, _her_ surname echoed endlessly in her mind, smashing effortlessly through carefully constructed barriers and walls that should never have been broken and -

_Blood on the ground, blood in the mist, blood on her - her Otou-san's blood, her Okaa-san's blood, so much blood, crimson and bright red and hot and wet against her face, on her clothes, on her skin, inside her mouth, copper and iron..._

Stop.

Stop it.

Stop it, stop it, stop it!

Please... stop...!

Kasumi went motionless, eyes blanking over, face pale, defenses shattered into pieces.

Her kunai fell to the ground with a clatter.

Haku vanished in a blur and a senbon found its way to the back of her neck, her side, her heel. Dimly, she heard Naruto and Sasuke's cries, but it was too late.

'Oh.' Kasumi had time to think before the darkness claimed her. 'Oh, that was his plan.'

She fell to the ground and was lost to the abyss.

* * *

_Next time:_

_Haku had been kind and sweet and so, so adorable._

_Kasumi had liked him at once._

* * *

**Me: Err... revelations! And now, on to the reviews!**

**TamashinoSuzume: No worries! We haven't, umm, gotten to her bloodline yet. We will, I promise! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**iciclefangAJ: Umm... no? Sorry to worry you. She's fine. I think. Thanks for the review!**

**twistedlittledoll: Oh, thank you! I'm delighted you like Kasumi! Hope you enjoyed this chapter~**

**Billiania: Aww... thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Bella-swan11: Well... it sorta happened like that? Maybe? Lolz, thanks for the review, hun!**

**belladu57: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Guest: Hope you liked this chapter, hun! Thanks for the review!**

**bonitalito: Sorry, sorry. Time gets away from me sometimes. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Me: Please review! As always, thanks to my beta! Ah, and take a look at my blog, y'all!**


	15. Blood

**Me: I do not own Naruto.**

**Naruto: Yeah! Believe it!**

**Me: ... *cries***

**Naruto: Oi, oi, oi! What are you doing?! *runs around, waving his arms in the air***

**Me: *sniffs* Take a look at my blog and review please! *runs off with tears streaming down her face***

**Naruto: Ahh! I don't know what to do! I don't know how to handle this!**

**Sasuke: Hn. Dobe.**

* * *

_Last time:_

_'Oh.' Kasumi had time to think before the darkness claimed her. 'Oh, that was his plan.'_

_She fell to the floor and was lost to the abyss._

* * *

**Orphanage**

She had met Haku when she was young.

Really, really young. Kasumi couldn't remember that time very well, because she had suppressed most of it - normal, the therapists had said - but she thought that maybe she was five. Perhaps six. Not seven, not seven for that was when the blood and the pain and the running had started, but maybe six.

Her Okaa-san had been the one to bring her to the orphanage.

"Okaa-san?" Kasumi had asked. "Why are we here?" It was been dirty and crowded and smelly and she remembered distinctly that she hadn't liked it.

Her Okaa-san, her wise, beautiful Okaa-san, had smiled at her kindly. "These are children who have lost their families." She had explained patiently. "I want you to talk to some of them. I have some cookies, why don't you give it to them?"

Now, looking back on the experience, she wondered if her Okaa-san had known what was going to happen, had wanted to give her a look of what her life could be. It wasn't unheard of for a 'feeling' to extend for years and her Otou-san had been the one who married into the clan.

Kasumi had pouted, but she had adored her Okaa-san and no one said no to Yuna Fumei. Sighing tragically, she had took the box of cookies and wandered into the orphanage.

In disdain, she'd looked at the poor living conditions and asked herself why anyone would want to live _here_. But, at the time, she hadn't understood that they hadn't wanted to, they just had nowhere else to go. She had learned that much, much later, when she had lost her own family.

"You're a freak!"

"Yeah, you should leave!"

"You abnormal, disgusting monster!"

The voices had been loud and openly mocking, but no one had noticed. It had been normal for orphanages; the caretakers certainly couldn't be bothered. Kasumi had been raised in a loving, caring environment though, and she had snapped her head towards the shouting immediately.

She remembered the scene vividly. A ring of three large, muscular boys stood surrounding a huddled figure in the corner, yelling and hitting the poor kid. Bullying, she had thought. Kasumi had been bullied when she had been younger, but her brothers had scared them all away.

It had been obvious the boy in the corner didn't have brothers, so she had stomped over, a scowl on her face.

"Hey!"

As one, the bullies had turned and tried to glare her down, but Kasumi hadn't been fazed, secure in the knowledge that her Okaa-san was right behind her. "Leave him alone!" She had demanded.

"Aww..." One of the brutes had said. "Look at that."

"She thinks she can take _us_ on." His friend had said, cracking his knuckles ominously.

"Shall we teach her a lesson, boys?" The leader had sneered, face twisting unpleasantly.

Kasumi had raised her chin, plastering on a disdainful look that she had seen her mother train on those she didn't like. "Like you could." She'd retorted.

The leader had narrowed his eyes, raised his fist, but before he had been able to bring it down upon her, Yuna's smooth, cultured voice broke in. "Children." She'd said and there was a trace of warning in her tone. "I hope there's nothing wrong."

Kasumi had taken childish pleasure in watching the bullies go white and scamper off without another peep. "Humph." Kneeling down next to the wide-eyed boy, she'd smiled at him kindly. "Want a cookie?"

"I - uh - yes." The boy had stuttered and she had smiled wider, because he was so _adorable_!

"I'm Kasumi." She'd said as the boy ate the cookie like he was starving. "What's your name?"

"Haku." The boy had said quietly and that was how they'd become friends.

**Liar**

Haku had been kind and sweet and so, so adorable.

Kasumi had liked him at once.

"Ne, ne, how are you doing?" She'd asked, a few weeks after they had met. In those weeks, Kasumi had repeatedly begged her mother to bring her to the orphanage and laughing, she had agreed, despite her father's stern eyes.

Kasumi had really, really loved her mother.

"I - I'm doing good, Kasumi-san." Haku had said quietly as she gave him the apple pie that her mother had made that day. It hadn't taken Kasumi long to realize that Haku didn't get enough to eat and that she should bring him food every time she visited. "Thank you."

"No problem!" She'd grinned, much more cheerful and open with her emotions back then. "Those bullies haven't been bugging you, have they?" She'd added, worried.

They tended to do that when she hadn't been around and she hadn't liked them very much. She never had asked why they called Haku a freak, but then, she hadn't really cared.

"N-No." He hadn't been able to look into her eyes.

"Liar!" She'd accused right away and he'd blushed crimson.

"It - it's okay, Kasumi-san. It really is."

She'd frowned, but agreed meekly even as she'd plotted to tell Okaa-san. She would know what to do to stop those mean bullies.

"Why are you here, Haku?" Kasumi had asked, the young, naive girl that she had been sheltered and protected by her family from the cruelties of the world beyond their simple, happy life.

Haku had paused, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes, before smiling sadly and shaking his head. "My parents are dead."

"Oh." She'd gasped, horrified. The girl that she had been had been utterly dependent on her loving, kind parents and her strong, protective brothers. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." He'd said and she hadn't understood, but she had understood that he had been sad and she had said nothing more on that subject.

"What do you want to happen to your body after you die?" She'd questioned, one day, maybe eight months after they first met.

Haku had given her a quietly curious look. "Why?"

"Well, it's strange, you know." She'd kicked her feet out, smiled at the small pond they had termed 'theirs'. "Everyone wants something different."

"What about you?"

"After I die, I want to be cremated and I want my ashes to be flung out to sea." She'd declared, so sure, so confident back then as only a child could be. "That's what my Taishi-nii-san said _real_ shinobi of the Mist do."

Haku had laughed, eyes soft. "In that case, I'd like that, too." He'd said and she had beamed at him, happy, so happy.

And so it'd gone. She'd visited the orphanage every few days with food for Haku and she had spent the hours there talking and laughing with him.

He had been her first true friend.

But then, things had started to fall apart.

**Forlorn**

"Kasumi-san?" Haku had said to her around a year later. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" She'd glanced up, embarrassed. "Yeah. Of course, I'm okay!"

"Liar." He'd said in a gentle tone, repeating what she had said to him so often. "What's wrong?" He'd leaned forward, watching him with those kind brown eyes and she'd felt her resolve to not tell him melt.

"I - I - my family..." She'd started out hesitantly and he'd nodded for her to go on. "I - there have been nasty rumors going around."

Haku had frowned, looking concerned. "Rumors?"

"Mm-hm." Kasumi had nodded, brow furrowed. "Some people are saying that my family... that my family is cursed."

"Cursed?"

"Yeah. Because, you know," She had leaned forward so she could whisper into his ear, "we have a bloodline ability."

"Ahh." Kasumi hadn't known what bloodline Haku had had, but she had known that he had one. Her Okaa-san had told her. Haku's frown had deepened and he had looked genuinely distressed.

"Haku-kun?"

"You need to be careful, Kasumi-san." He'd said to her. "Really, really careful."

Kasumi had nodded and they had spent two more hours together before she had left. As the time when her Okaa-san was supposed to arrive had approached, the dark clouds above had finally relented and snow, pure and sweet, had fallen down from the heavens.

"Haku-kun! Look!" She'd called out happily, smiling so widely her face had hurt.

Haku had been smiling, too. He had reached out and cupped his hands together and a perfect snowflake had landed on his palm. "Look, Kasumi-san."

"It's so pretty..."

"Yes. I love the snow." He had told her.

She had laughed. "I do, too!"

She had waved goodbye cheerfully and he had waved back, a small smile on his face, but his eyes had conveyed his worry.

Two days later, her world was painted blood-red and she had willingly shoved him to the back of her mind in favor of survival.

Five years later, she found herself face to face with that little boy that had been her first friend, the one that wanted to kill her now.

Irony, at its worst, she supposed.

**Blood**

Kasumi was abruptly snapped out of her distant, fuzzy dreams of a boy with a kind smile and the ice-wielding man that he had become by her bloodline.

It _wailed_, the long, painful cry of a wounded animal, the painful sob of a grieving friend.

Gasping, she bolted upright and instantly regretted when her body gleefully reminded her that it had been pierced with several sharp, sharp senbon and that her pain-receptors were working just fine.

Hissing out a breath, she took a quick evaluation of her body. Multiple senbon sticking out of her, unsurprising, what looked like two dozen cuts, but other than that... nothing major. Kasumi pressed her lips together, narrowed her eyes, gathered up her strength, and with hurried, fluid movements plucked out all of the senbon, placing them lightly on the ground.

She got herself up on her knees. Forcibly ignoring the distracting pain, she ran her eyes over the battlefield.

She wasn't where she had collapsed, she noticed that immediately. Quite far from it, in fact, as she was near the very edge of the bridge, a place that was decently remote from the danger zone. She briefly wondered who had been the one to carry her away, the one who had removed her trench coat and laid her down on it, but dismissed the thought as unimportant when her bloodline gave her a nudge coated with desperation.

The mist was gone from her location - did that mean Zabuza had been defeated?

A flicker of navy and black caught her eye and she turned to see a limp figure on that ground. Sasuke? Was he okay? Pieces of ice encompassed the ground around him - remnants of the ice mirrors? Was Haku defeated? Sasuke was still, motionless; was he alive?

_Safe_. _Alive. _Clearly impatient, her bloodline tugged at her to realize something; something important. Very important. _Look_.

She didn't want to look, because there was no way for this to not be bad news. Frowning, she directed her eyes further left and for a bare second, felt her heart stop beating before freezing outright. The scene in front of her could have been taken straight out of her nightmares.

Zabuza stood, bloody and wounded, in the center of the bridge, large, ferocious-looking dogs holding him down. Kakashi stood not even a meter away, hand thrust out, and one eye betraying abject horror.

And Haku, Haku stood in the middle, hands outstretched like he could stop the death raining down on them all by sheer will, Kakashi's hand plunged _inside_ his chest, blood - his blood, her first friend's blood, Haku's _life_ blood - dripping down his baggy clothing in rivers, falling down to pool at his feet, on the bridge...

Kasumi thought that - for all of her composure, poise, control - she might have screamed if someone hadn't beaten her to it.

"HAKU!" Naruto yelled and numbly, blankly, she glanced further left to see a shocked Tazuna and her blonde, distraught teammate on the cold, hard ground. _"HAKU!"_

_Dead. _Her bloodline told her and this, this was why she had sealed it away all those years ago. _Dead._

Naruto really should know better, she thought to herself, feeling abnormally cold despite the temperate weather conditions. They were ninja and ninja killed; ninja died. Ninja got soaked in blood - red and wet and copper and hot - all the time. Ninja didn't get attached, ninja didn't cry.

Ninja were meant to be emotionless tools that spilled blood - on yourself, on others, on the ground, pools and pools of it until the mist was tinted pink and the rivers weren't clear anymore - and went on missions and killed in the middle of the night for others.

Ninja weren't supposed to cry. Ninja weren't supposed to mourn. Ninja were supposed to get the job done.

Kasumi closed her eyes momentarily and found that part of her that was hard and unyielding, even more unbreakable than those mirrors, even colder than that ice, and pulled it around her like a cloak. Priorities.

_Priorities._ Who were the priorities? Tazuna, Naruto, Sasuke.

She disregarded the fight starting to play out in front of her eyes once more, paid no attention to Tazuna after affirming that he was unharmed, and after visually checking Naruto over and finding that he was fine, focused on Sasuke. Neglecting her own wounds - they weren't that bad, anyways - she dragged herself over to the dark-haired Uchiha, taking no notice of the pain her body tried to inform her of.

Upon reaching him, she blinked down at him. Senbon through the neck, through the arms, through the torso, through the legs...

Kasumi reached out and gently lifted up her injured teammate, resting his head on her lip. She resolutely ignored the red, red blood all over the bridge, on her pants, on her hands...

Gingerly, slowly, she slid a senbon out from his neck and let it clatter to the ground.

_Plink._ Loud. One.

_Drip. _She ignored that.

Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. _Plink, plink, plink._

_Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. _She ignored those, too.

She needed to heal these wounds now. They were small, but could be detrimental later on. Mystical Palm Technique. How to perform it again? Ox seal and then tiger. Yes, that was right.

Kasumi formed the necessary seals and concentrated and watched as pale green chakra gathered around her hands. She placed her hands over Sasuke's neck and watched as the small holes in his pale skin healed.

Slow. Absurdly slow.

'I really must,' she thought to herself, 'practice my medical ninjutsu more. This rate of healing is hardly going to be useful to me in combat or in the case of severe wounds.'

That done, she turned her concentration on the senbon sticking out of his chest. One out, two out, three out...

_Plink. Plink. Plink._

It was cold on the bridge.

_Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop._

She was healing the wound on Sasuke's knee when a gentle touch to her cheek made her still. She glanced up, found herself looking into dazed black eyes.

_Drip. Drop._

"Sasuke-san." Kasumi said, feeling a light strand of hair flutter against her neck as a cool breeze blew across the bridge. "You're awake."

He frowned at her, eyes strangely shrewd despite being cognizant for less than a minute. His hand shifted so it cupped her face. Gently, gently his thumb - calloused, _warm_ \- brushed against her ice-cold skin. "You're crying." He said and dully, she realized that she was.

How... strange.

She drew back, having finished healing Sasuke to the best of her ability, and started to heal herself. It didn't take her long to finish healing the small scratches and holes in her skin. Kasumi wasn't vain, but that wasn't why she healed her face last.

There were only two scratches. Haku had gone easy on her. Her fingers brushed against something wet and she froze for a long heartbeat, before methodically smoothing healing chakra against the stinging wounds.

Sasuke, having pushed himself to a sitting position, watched her with those dark, dark eyes.

That done, her hands fell down to fold themselves on her lap. Kasumi stared blankly at Sasuke and wondered what she was supposed to do now.

It was so cold on the bridge.

"Hey." Sasuke said and shuffled closer. He placed his hands on her bare arms and she became conscious of the shivers that wracked her body. Why was it so, awfully, _cold_?

Sasuke drew her closer, into his warm, warm arms, and in some small part of her mind, Kasumi thought that this was incredibly uncharacteristic of him. Sasuke showing affection? Was he alright? He didn't have a concussion, did he?

A hard, vicious tremble tore its way through her body and she stared, almost uncomprehendingly, at the blood on the bridge. It was amazing, it honestly was. How one kind, sweet, sad boy barely become a man could have so much blood contained in his body.

How it could splatter against the wood of the bridge in such a savage, malevolent pattern.

Sasuke muttered a curse as a particularly violent tremble shook her body and hauled her closer to the warmth of his body. He smelled like blood and steel, she thought to herself listlessly. But underneath that, was the scent of fresh ozone, like a thunderstorm on a hot summer day, and cool mint.

It didn't suit him... and yet, it did. Kasumi rested her face against his shoulder, stared at the noiseless world beyond the barrier of ice.

It came to her slowly, was a realization that came not as a harsh slap, but a gradual understanding... this apathy... it wasn't right, was it?

Oh.

There wasn't something wrong with Sasuke. There was something wrong with _her_.

Something light and cold landed on her cheek and Kasumi glanced up to see hundreds of white snowflakes falling to the ground, coating the blood-stained world with an odd purity, almost like a layer of innocence, of beauty.

_Pretty_. It was a lie, of course, but it was a lie that she wouldn't mind accepting... just for now. Only for a minute.

"Hey." Sasuke muttered in her ear again. His voice was husky, soft, muted in the quiet intimacy of the falling snow. "It'll be okay."

If he felt the tears falling drop by drop onto his neck, he gave no indication. None at all.

* * *

_Next time:_

_Naruto and Sasuke waited quietly, patiently, and she thought, 'Yes. I do owe them an explanation, don't I?'_

* * *

**Me: *sniffs* Poor Kasumi-chan. Let's see, stuff gets explained next time! And all of my lovely reviews!**

**.cake: Nooo! Don't die on me! See, see, stuff gets explained up there! ^ So don't die! XD I'm delighted you like my story, hun! Thanks for the review!**

**Rosy Fire: Lolz, it's okay. I'm happy you like AS! And yes, after 14 chapters, Kasumi's last name is finally reviewed! Cheers~**

**OatsandHoney: O.O No, no, no! Don't die! I didn't mean to kill anyone! Read and enjoy! XD, thanks for the review, hun!**

**TamashinoSuzume: Ah, I'm so happy you like! The Chunin Exams... I'm writing that part right now. :3 Let's just say it'll be interesting! Thanks for the review, sweetie!**

**lostfeather1: Kasumi-chan finally broke down. But it's okay cause her teammates are going to be there for her! And if I may say so myself, Sasuke's reaction was swoon-worthy. Aww... thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Kronus96: Lolz, I love the way you put that. Friends with the slackers, :D. *le gasp* You, my friend, are a very good guesser! Oh, you're very welcome! And thanks for your review!**

**TheQueenofGoodbyes: Lolz, yup, there's drama! Was there enough drama for you? I'd say there was a lot of drama this time. Thanks for your review, hun!**

**starrat: Oh, thank you! Hope you liked this chapter!**

**Guest: Yeah, I thought that analogy would be one Naruto could refer to. Lolz, thanks for the review!**

**bonitalito: Ah, thank you! I hope you liked this chapter!**

**ShikiUploadz: Kyaa! Please don't kill me! Or, wait, who are you trying to kill? O.O Either way, please put that guy away! See, see, I updated! Things are explained! Up there! ^ Please don't kill anyway, lolz!**

**Guest: Lolz, yes. Sasuke is very, very curious. And stubborn. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Nikita: Aww... thank you so much! Your review made my day! Hmm... romance, huh? *smiles mischievously and points up* No worries! I shall be a ninja and sneak in romance! And Haku... yes, I've always thought of him as an innocent. Breaks my heart. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Bella-swan11: Yup, yup! We'll find out what happens after Kasumi passes out next chapter. Thanks for the review!**

**Me: Okay! *takes a deep breath* Stuff happened! Take a look at my blog and review! Oh, and so much thanks to my beta! Cha~**


	16. Explanations

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

**Kasumi: Please review!**

**Me: And check out my blog!**

* * *

_Last time:_

_"Hey." Sasuke muttered in her ear again. His voice was husky, soft, muted in the quiet intimacy of the falling snow. "It'll be okay."_

_If he felt the tears falling drop by drop onto his neck, he gave no indication. None at all._

* * *

**Burial**

When it was all over, Naruto... he didn't know what to feel.

Haku was gone. Dead. He... he had sacrificed himself for Zabuza and thinking back to that encounter in the clearing, to what he had said when Naruto had prepared himself to kill the enemy he thought had taken away his two precious teammates, Naruto freely admitted that he admired the shinobi Haku had been.

He wouldn't forget what Haku had said, what he had taught Naruto.

Zabuza was dead, too. Naruto wouldn't say that he was happy the bastard was dead, because Haku had loved the man and he had died for him and Zabuza, in the end, after some scolding and screaming from Naruto, had died for Haku. The blonde couldn't say that he was happy that Zabuza was dead.

But he could say that he was relieved, because if Zabuza had just continued on like he had pretended he was going to, all unaffected and smirking and shit, Naruto would be furious. Well, he _had_ been furious, but he would have been more furious. Plus, the guy had almost killed his teammates and had hurt his sensei and that seriously wasn't allowed.

The bastard that was an even bigger bastard than Zabuza, Gato, was dead. Zabuza had slit his throat and Naruto approved whole-heartedly. Gato had planned to betray Zabuza and Haku all along and he was why Inari's father was dead and that guy didn't deserve to live.

Inari though... he was really proud of that brat! He had finally stopped crying and even rounded up all of the villagers and actually did something! Naruto had the feeling the crybaby would grow up to be something great! He had even managed to scare off all the thugs that Gato had bought along with them.

Staggering to his feet, Naruto dragged himself to the bodies of Zabuza and Haku, side by side as they should be. He looked down at them, with the snow all around them, pure and pretty. And he thought it really suited Haku and that the devoted ninja he might have called friend in another world would have liked to see the falling snow.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei." He called out, voice softer than usual in respect for the two proud shinobi at his feet.

His awesome but wounded sensei walked over, one hand still pressed to the injury at his side. "What is it, Naruto?"

"We need to give Zabuza and Haku a decent burial." Naruto stated firmly. "They deserve that much."

Kakashi looked thoughtfully, the way Kasumi sometimes did when she was thinking about a really hard problem that made Naruto's head hurt. "Yes, I suppose you're right." He said, glancing at the pair.

A soft footstep behind them had Naruto glancing back to see Kasumi and Sasuke approaching. He grinned wildly, still stunned by the realization that both of his teammates were alright and alive and looking just fine! But Naruto wasn't so caught up in his joy that he didn't see how pale his female teammate's face was and the way her eyes were a little red and how her shoulders drooped.

He saw how the teme, normally so distant and detached and cool, was shooting looks that Naruto would swear were concerned at Kasumi, how he walked a little behind her like he was afraid she would fall or something, the way he was almost _hovering_ over their smart, capable kunoichi.

As far as the blonde knew, Sasuke didn't hover. Ever. It was practically making his world tilt upside down.

Grin turning into a worried frown, Naruto hesitantly called, "Kasumi-chan?" He didn't know what had happened that had made Kasumi look so sad and Sasuke to look so troubled, but his pretty teammate had already been so upset these past few days and he had thought that she was getting better and Naruto wanted Kasumi to be happy, because she was his friend and his teammate, and she should be happy.

Kasumi looked at him, those warm brown eyes unnaturally dull. "I'm fine, Naruto-san." She said like she knew that he was worried and sometimes, Naruto wondered if Kasumi could read his mind because she did that a lot. But the blonde was pretty sure that she was lying because Sasuke frowned at her and his female teammate's eyes weren't supposed to look like that.

She brushed by him before he could say anything more, though and looked at Zabuza and Haku. "Naruto-san, what was it that you said before?"

Naruto's frown deepened and he glanced questioningly at the teme when he stepped up to stand beside him, was met with a shrug that he could tell was a sign for 'I'll-tell-you-later' and wasn't that weird, that he knew what that shrug meant, that he could talk to his rival when before they had done nothing but argue?

But that was because of Kasumi, too.

"I-I said that we should give Zabuza and Haku a decent burial." Naruto said gingerly, not quite sure how to talk to his teammate when she was so sorrowful and distant and far away even though she was right there.

She was quiet for a few heartbeats and then, she said, "No."

The Uzumaki's cerulean blue eyes went wide and he stiffened in surprise, because of all the people in his team, he had _never_ expected Kasumi to be the one to say no. She was the kind one, the nice one, the one that always listened patiently to his ideas and either persuaded Sasuke to go along with them if they were good or calmly explain to him why they were bad.

She had never just said plain out 'no' to him before.

Hurt and confused, he was about to shout at her "why not?" when the teme poked him sharply with a pointy elbow. Turning on the teme for interfering, Naruto was met with a look and a subtle shake of the head. He had been around Sasuke long enough that he knew this meant 'leave-it'.

What Naruto couldn't understand was _why_?!

"Kasumi." Sasuke spoke up into the thick silence that had fallen. "What do you think we should do then?"

Naruto glanced back at his teammate to see how she was reacting and instantly felt horribly guilty. The way she was looking at Zabuza and Haku was so incredibly sad and regretful and pained that he couldn't imagine why she had said they shouldn't be buried. And he couldn't imagine why he had almost been about to shout at her when she was so obviously upset already.

"Cremate them." She whispered softly. "And then throw the ashes in the water."

Kakashi, soundless until that point, shifted slightly so that everyone focused on him. Their sensei's one eye was steadily fixed on Kasumi and his voice, when he spoke, was gentle and understanding, "Isn't that what the Hidden Mist does with their fallen ninja as a gesture of honor and respect?"

Naruto didn't understand why Kakashi was asking Kasumi, he was the sensei not her, but maybe it was because she read so many books? Lost, he suddenly remembered what Haku had said, towards the end.

_"Please..." A glance towards Kasumi, where he had gotten her to safety before the fighting had restarted, "tell Kasumi-san that I'm sorry."_

The blonde was pretty sure that his female teammate and Haku hadn't met before the fight at the bridge, so why...? And then, there was what Haku had called Kasumi before he had knocked her out. What had it been again?

_Fumei. Kasumi Fumei._

What was that? Was it her surname? Kasumi, his prepared, smart, strong teammate, had froze when Haku had said that, her face pure white, brown eyes alight with terror and fear, so much of it that Naruto had wanted to punch Haku into the ground just for that. Haku had knocked her out with senbon, except Naruto hadn't known that she was knocked out and Sasuke hadn't known and they had both thought she was dead.

And they had been enraged, livid, and desolate.

It didn't make sense, nothing made sense. Naruto didn't know what was going on here and Kasumi had drilled it into his head to always be aware of his surroundings, to pay attention and listen, even when it was boring and nothing was happening - because information was important and it might help save the lives of his precious people one day.

"Yes." Kasumi breathed softly, her breath visible in the cold air.

Beside him, the teme shifted slightly, but he didn't fidget and so, Naruto glanced at him. Sasuke was watching the interaction between their sensei and their teammate with a faint frown that told Naruto that something was wrong and his rival didn't like it and that meant he should pay really, _really_ close attention to what was going on.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked and absently, Naruto thought that was a stupid question. Kasumi was always sure. She had told him once that that was really important cause if she wasn't sure then she might make stupid decisions and since she was their team's strategist, that might get them all killed and that would be horrible and awful and sad.

"I'm sure." She said and paused for a moment. "It's what they would have wanted."

Naruto didn't know how Kasumi would know that and from the way Sasuke's brow wrinkled a little, he didn't know either, but their sensei only nodded.

"Then, that's what we'll do."

**Ashes**

Kasumi held the urn filled with Haku and Zabuza's remains, their ashes, together in the end, with the utmost care as she made her way down to the flowing river, fresh with the recent snow.

She paid no attention to the concerned stares of Naruto and Sasuke and the piercingly observant way Kakashi watched her. Oh, she was aware, but she shoved it to the back of her mind where the shadows and nightmares and blood and violence lived and breathed.

God, she needed to get her head checked out, but the person who suggested a Yamanaka to her was going to get Naruto and Sasuke set upon them. Like rabid dogs.

Kneeling beside the fast moving stream and carefully suppressing her growing hysteria - control, control - Kasumi gently tilted the urn and watched as the water carried the ashes away.

The dark ashes swirled with the water, strangely artistic, unwittingly beautiful. She watched them go until they were out of sight and then she stayed for a few more hours, simply listening to the calming roar of the water, so familiar, so unfamiliar.

When Sasuke lightly placed a hand on her shoulder and Naruto knelt in front of her, Kasumi let them lead her back without protest.

It had been a long day.

**Explanations**

The next day saw Kasumi sitting in front of the 'graves' of Zabuza and Haku as she had consented to have built when Sasuke pointed out that they needed a place to place the missing nin's sword and Haku's obi and where they could properly pay their respects.

He hadn't been looking at her, hadn't even glanced at her, but she had known nevertheless that the last part had been for her. She was grateful and pensive both.

Knees bent and arms wrapped around them, the kunoichi was staring quietly at the simple crosses that they had erected, long cream hair blowing in the wind, the dainty white dress that she had packed only because she was paranoid and knew the value of looking innocence fluttering lightly, when her teammates found her.

"Kasumi-chan?" Naruto sat down on her left, Sasuke settling down on her right. The blonde's cerulean blue eyes were wide and perturbed. "Are you okay?"

She managed to dig up a smile from somewhere, strained and small, but there, nonetheless. "I'll be okay, Naruto-san."

To her dim amusement, naive, optimistic Naruto gave her a thoroughly disbelieving look. Maybe Sasuke and her were rubbing off on him?

Sasuke said nothing, but then again, he didn't need to. They both knew that the only reason he hadn't cornered her and dragged answers out of her yet was because he was the only one who had witnessed her breakdown at the bridge and he didn't want to push her too hard, too soon.

Kasumi could have told him that he didn't have to bother, that she was stronger than that, that she was terribly used to people she knew and loved dying on her, but she didn't. That would have bought up far too many questions and she wasn't in any state to fend off the Uchiha at his most persistent.

"What happened after I was out?" She asked softly into the stilted quiet.

"Oh!" Naruto brightened slightly before launching into a highly dramatized version of the battle, Sasuke occasionally jumping in to curb the exaggerations and add in details the blonde had forgotten and between the two of them, Kasumi gradually got an image of what had truly occurred.

As soon as she had been knocked out, Haku had pulled the same trick he would later pull on Sasuke and created a fake death state, leading her teammates to believe that she had been dead.

Doing so had caused both of them to be really, really, really angry - Naruto's words, Sasuke's deadpan disdain obvious - and without her there to plan out strategies for them, they had just rushed in and started attacking Haku, no tactics at all.

Kasumi made a note to herself to hammer some simple strategies into her teammates' heads. As well as some lessons about keeping a cool head. And not letting a death affect them so - the life of a ninja was no fairytale.

Following that, sometime in the confusion and red and pain and desperation, Sasuke had gained the second tomoe of his Sharingan and started directing Naruto, so much that he had become enough of a threat that Haku had chose to go after him.

At this, she turned to the Uchiha, whose face was stoically blank, and gently touched a finger to the edge of his eye. Without a word, he closed his eyes and activated his Sharingan, letting her examine the valued bloodline. Satisfied, she drew back and nodded at Naruto, who had watched the scene with wide, curious eyes, to continue.

Looking a bit puzzled, he did as she had asked, using perhaps the one scrap of tact he had. Haku proceeded to aim for Naruto, Sasuke had jumped in the way, and the blonde had ended up with two 'dead' teammates.

"And then I beat him." He said, drawing circles in the ground with a stick he had picked up from somewhere.

"Hn. Dobe. How?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow.

Naruto shrugged, not looking at either of them. "I was really mad and I just kept on punching, I guess."

Kasumi took in the muted guilt on her teammate's face, the way his hand came up to unconsciously clutch his stomach, and shook her head minutely at Sasuke, telling him to drop it. He gave her a strange look, but subsided and listened as Naruto described shattering Haku's mirrors and getting both of them far away from the battlefield.

"And... yeah." Naruto scratched his head, blue eyes subdued. "You guys know what happened after that."

"Yes." Kasumi said, staring at the green, green grass in front of her, leaning in the wind.

"You know, Haku said something to me before." Naruto added, voice unusually tentative. They all heard the unspoken words, 'before he died.' She fought back the flinch through sheer will.

Instead, she tilted her head up to look at the sky, so blue, so clear. "Oh?"

"Yeah. He said to tell you that he was sorry." At once, she could feel Sasuke's absolute attention on her, Naruto's already unwavering focus sharpening at the change in the Uchiha.

For a long time, Kasumi was silent. The capricious wind blew her hair around her face, fanned it out behind her so the tresses danced in the air. She saw her teammates' eyes flicker to the horribly impractical strands. It was the first time they had ever seen her hair unbound, she knew. Not the bane of her existence as it was for most girls, but still a pain, nonetheless, as it went everywhere when not up in a bun and was a wonderful hand-hold for enemies.

Loose, Kasumi's hair, locks of cream and platinum and white blonde, reached the small of her back and caught in the gentle breeze, blew around her face, obscuring her features teasingly, revealing them seconds later.

She listened to the song of the nearby birds, basked in the warm sunlight, thought about the boy-turned-man who was dead after having the _nerve_ to apologize to her before heading off to his death.

"I see." She breathed at last and then, to her teammates' surprise, her lips quirked into a small, bitter smile, anger darting into her eyes, turning them into blazing burnt sienna and she hissed, "Bastard."

None of the boys had ever heard her curse _anyone_ before and she felt them exchange a startled look above her head. To their internal thanks, Kasumi's animosity seemed to pass as quickly as it had appeared and she sighed, slumping slightly.

"You knew him." Sasuke ventured softly and she felt his clothed arm press mildly against her bare arm. She appreciated the sentiment, however awkward it was.

Her smile this time was a little more genuine, more bittersweet than just bitter. "Yes."

Naruto and Sasuke waited quietly, patiently, and she thought, 'Yes. I do owe them an explanation, don't I?'

"Haku," She began, "was my first friend."

**Recounting**

At both sides, she felt them stiffen in surprise, clearly prepared for anything but that, but she forced her way forward despite that because if she didn't get this out soon, she would break and she couldn't break.

"I first met him in a Kirigakure orphanage. As you guys saw, Haku has a bloodline and... Bloody Mist isn't kind to clans with bloodlines." She said, laying the truth out in the open like the blood-soaked thing it was.

"Is that why you're in Konoha?" Sasuke asked gently and of course, the genius Ice Prince had already figured out. Unsurprising, since she had given them so many hints unwillingly.

Naruto started by her side and fondly, she noted that the blonde hadn't known. But, it was Naruto and she didn't mind him keeping his innocence and his naivety and his simple mind for a little bit longer.

"Yes." Kasumi murmured, seeing blood and tears and screams flash before her eyes. "Yes, but I'll get to that later. I... when we met, Haku had already lost his family, his clan. We became friends quickly and I visited him in that orphanage for some months... years."

"You said he was your first friend." Naruto piped up, a question hidden in the statement, and she nodded slowly.

"Even at that time, Kirigakure was already wrought with turmoil. There were rumors, gossip, whispers in the air that were dangerous and my family... my clan, the Fumei clan, knew that change was coming, might sweep us all away. So, they kept my childhood life up until then sheltered and the other children... well, they knew better than to play with clan kids." Her voice was even, composed, betrayed none of the loneliness and anguish inherent in that remark.

Naruto scowled, cerulean eyes darkening and she observed without surprise that her tale was bringing up unwanted memories for the blonde. Sasuke didn't look all that happy either, although he hid it better than Naruto did.

"I visited Haku every few days and we would talk, sharing cookies or cake or some other snack. The orphanage there... it wasn't kind to children like him and sometimes, I think that my visits were the only thing that kept him from starving or being beaten to death. The other kids bullied him and he always had some sort of bruise on him when I came. It was during one of these talks that the topic of death came up."

"That's how you knew what he would want done to his corpse after he died." Sasuke said, onyx eyes lighting up with abrupt understanding.

"Yes. We were... close friends. I don't think he had any friends at that time either and I certainly didn't. We clung to each other as much as we could in the catastrophic political climate." She paused and laughed humorlessly, Naruto cringing at the sound and Sasuke flinching minutely. "And then... around the time I was seven, _things changed_."

Plain words. Clean words. Words that held an entire lifetime's pain and regret and tears.

"What happened?" Naruto asked quietly, eyes full of dread and sympathy and the kindness that was so rare in the world.

Her smile was heart-breaking. "The Bloody Mist finally decided that my clan was too powerful, too perilous, too unpredictable, too something or another, and they hunted us down and massacred all but three of us."

The shock, the disbelief, the pure horror was tangible in the air and she could _hear _Sasuke gritting his teeth. She didn't look at either of her teammates, but stared straight ahead at the crosses that signified Zabuza and Haku's graves.

"As expected, after that, I didn't have any contact with Haku. I might even have completely forgotten about him. Until that day I saw him walking out of the forest, of course."

"So." Kasumi leaned back and looked at her teammates, eyes endless pools of dark, dark chocolate churning with pain and sorrow and remorse, her smile a painful, painful thing. "Questions, boys?"

* * *

_Next time:_

_It was graceful and magnificent and he felt an acute thrill of regret for he knew that the butterfly would live for less than a month._

* * *

**Me: And Kasumi's past is explained at last! Reviews!**

**Rosy Fire: Aww... thank you! Haku did leave the world with no regrets, I think. He died doing what he loved the best, after all! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Falicia: Lolz, that's okay. :D Thanks for the review!**

**starrat: That scene was always heartbreaking. *sniff* Hope you enjoyed this chapter, sweetie!**

**The Queen of Goodbyes: Lolz, I'm happy that you liked it! This chapter didn't take too long, did it? Thanks for the review, hun!**

**ShikiUploadz: :o No author = no updating! Put that thing into a safe and throw away the key! :P**

**bonitalito: Hmm.. well, she didn't, but Naruto did for her! XD Thanks for the review, dear!**

**rinievermilion: Well, we all know how stubborn Sasuke is! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, hun!**

**Manaliac: *sniff* I know, it's so sad! But he died protecting Zabuza, what he always wanted! He would want it this way!**

**Nikita: Oh, I'm sorry. Umm... Kasumi woke up, saw the scene with Haku and Zabuza, tore the senbon out of her, and got to Sasuke. I think she honestly just numbed herself out there. Sasuke showing affection is always fun to write. ^_^, thanks for the review, hun!**

**Bella-swan11: Sasuke is a stubborn guy, but not even he can deny his feelings forever! Lolz, hope you liked this chapter!**

**MDA: I'm sorry. :/ If it helps, Haku did say goodbye to Kasumi, even if she didn't get to hear it until now. Kasumi isn't quite emotionless, she just hides her emotions well. Thanks for the review, sweetheart!**

**1XxKiraXx1: Kasumi was very emotionally affected by that scene and I wanted to show it. I'm so happy you liked that chapter! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Wren: Okay, okay! I got the next chapter up! No need to panic, dear reader! I hope you enjoy this one too!**

**fanfictionnatic: I'll do my best! Thanks for the review!**

**Me: Mmk, thanks to my awesome beta! Also, review and check out my blog please!**

**Question: How do you think Naruto and Sasuke will react?**


	17. Butterfly

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

**Naruto: Yeah! I'm going to become the Hokage!**

**Me: You're starting to remind me of Luffy...**

**Naruto: Eeeh?!**

**Me: Never mind that. Now review and visit my blog!**

* * *

_Last time:_

_"So." Kasumi leaned back and looked at her teammates, eyes endless pools of dark, dark chocolate churning with pain and sorrow and remorse, her smile a painful, painful thing. "Questions, boys?"_

* * *

**Moment**

Naruto was the one to react first. He chose to react by lunging forward and enveloping Kasumi in the mother of all hugs, babbling apologies.

She froze, eyes widening. What? What... was he doing?!

"Kasumi-chan, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I didn't know about Haku and Kirigakure and... and... I-I didn't know, I'm sorry; I was really inconsiderate these past few days, huh? You'll be okay, right? I'm sorry your childhood was horrible, I'm sorry your family's dead, I'm sorry your village was such a nasty place!" He rambled quietly, every word impossibly sincere, oddly sorrowful.

Kasumi could only keep herself motionless, every muscle locked in place for fear that if she moved the tiniest inch, the parts of her would shatter and break and go flying everywhere, never to be gathered up again.

No one, _no one_, had ever apologized to her for her shitty childhood. The closest anyone had gotten was when her brother had apologized before leaving on _that_ mission. He hadn't come back either.

Not alive.

A warm, steady hand on her back, a stormy, temperate chakra signature, and she knew that Sasuke was behind her, offering the comfort that the antisocial, reserved Uchiha could offer.

Strangely, her sprinting, running brain seemed to have come to a dead-stop, skidding a little on the way. Nothing was making sense. She hadn't known what she had expected when she had told Naruto and Sasuke part of her past, because it held hints of their own pasts. By themselves Naruto's loneliness had been worse than hers and Sasuke's massacre had been crueler, but put together... the lines began to blur.

She hadn't known how they would react; would they be sympathetic, uncertain, or disinterested? Angry at her keeping it from them for so long, upset at the dark brutality of the world in which she had been born, dismissive of her pain as their childhoods had been no walk in the park either?

Kasumi hadn't known and for once, she hadn't cared. Her teammates had deserved an explanation after all that she had put them through in the past few days and she had given it to them. She hadn't sugarcoated anything, although she had left some details out, and gave the bloody, gloomy, tear-soaked truth to them.

Naruto was _apologizing_ to her? Why? He hadn't done anything, he couldn't have known, it had nothing to do with him. Sasuke was trying to comfort her? Why? She knew her recounting must have dredged up memories for him, ugly and much hated, painful and ripping.

She couldn't understand, but Kasumi let herself relax in Naruto's arms and soak in the natural sunlight the boy who held the Kyubi gave off, accepted Sasuke's undemanding presence at her side and let the screaming, clawing memories go for a moment.

Just a moment.

**Understanding**

Sasuke stepped out of the house and onto the porch lit by sparkling moonlight, onyx eyes instantly locking on to the girl kneeling a few feet ahead, platinum hair shining white in the cool light.

He leaned against the doorway for a second, taking in the scene as said girl had demanded from him and the dobe so many times during their training sessions and reaching conclusions, making generalizations, silent although he knew that she, perceptive as she was, knew that he was there.

He took in his teammate, noted that she hadn't changed from her previous clothing - a pure white lace dress - and that her hair, still free from the bun that she normally kept it in, longer than he had ever suspected that it was, waved around her slender figure, strangely lonely in the beam of moonlight in which she kneeled on the dewy grass.

She probably hadn't slept a second tonight, he thought to himself. Certainly, he hadn't been surprised when he had woken up for his watch and found the girl absent from her cot. Sasuke observed the way the mist, so harmless, so insignificant before, danced in the faint silver light, swirled and coiled, and wondered what the kunoichi saw in the same innocent display.

He suspected she saw red and violence, heard the screams of her family and friends, felt the splash of heart's blood on her skin.

Sasuke was no fool; he knew that Kasumi had given them the bare bones of her past. She hadn't lied to them, hadn't sweetened her story for them, but she had hardly told them just how bad it had been for her.

The other kids knew better than to play with clan kids? He had heard, and he knew the dobe had heard, a childhood filled with loneliness, alienation, devoid of friends and secluded for reasons that a child surely couldn't have understood. She and Haku were close friends, clung to each other? They hadn't had anyone else, two children with bloodlines who had _only_ had each other.

Her clan had become too powerful and was hunted down and massacred? One sentence, she had said one sentence, but Sasuke knew it couldn't have been that simple, couldn't have been anywhere close to the terror and desperation and blood that it must have been. Hunted, she had said her clan had been _hunted _down. It reminded the Uchiha of a game back in the Academy.

The group of children would scatter and then Kiba and Akamaru would track all of them down, one by one. It had been a game the teachers had encouraged for it taught them how to conceal their tracks, evasion tactics, and gave Kiba and Akamaru a chance to hone their burgeoning tracking skills, and Sasuke had played the game once or twice before That Night, but Kasumi, he recalled, had never ever participated.

Not once.

It had been nowhere close to what she must have experienced, but Sasuke could remember the feeling of being hunted down, of having a predator on your trail, of being _prey_. What must it have been like, being hunted by experienced shinobi, possibly even hunter-nin, judging by the way Kasumi had responded to seeing Haku's fake mask, while you were a mere child?

Thinking back to her slight aversion to Kiba and Akamaru, slight because she was logical and could differentiate between an Inuzuka and a Kirigakure hunter-nin, but aversion because like it or not, logical or not, it was there, it made sense. Of course, Kasumi Fumei had a reluctant dislike towards the boy who was the Heir to the Clan whose main job was hunting ninja down.

Who else? Who else had Kasumi shown a subtle antipathy for? Ino. Yamanaka Ino. Sasuke frowned slightly. It could go both ways for that relationship, he realized. It was possible that Kasumi hadn't liked Ino because she was a fangirl and a fangirl of the SUFA no less. He shuddered inwardly. It could also be because Ino was a Yamanaka and had the ability to enter her mind, something that Sasuke was dryly certain that Kasumi would take none too kindly to.

He knew because he was the same way. It had been recommended more than once after That Night that one of the Yamanaka take a look inside his head, but he had rejected all of the recommendations harshly, infuriated that they thought he would want someone in his head after what That Man had done.

Everyone else, everyone else that had passed in their year, Kasumi got along fine with. It vaguely made sense now that he had most of the pieces, how she had been of the few people who had never offered him a pitying look or asked if he was okay, how she had quietly fulfilled Naruto's need for a friend while, at the same time, letting him loose to fight with Sasuke or bother Sakura or declare to the world that he was going to become Hokage with an indulgent smile.

Looking back, Sasuke suddenly found himself questioning if it had been natural, the group of the friends that Kasumi had slowly gathered around her. He knew through the annoyingly fast gossip system the girls had kept up and found prudent to bombard his ears with that she had a thing with bullying and as such, had drawn Choji and subsequently Shikamaru, the Nara Heir, to her side when she had defended the Akimichi Heir. Same with Shino, Heir of the Aburame Clan, and no one really knew how she had become friends with Hinata, Heir to the Hyuga Clan.

Then, there was her sort of friendship with him, Heir to the Uchiha Clan. If you thought about it like that and added in the fact that she had had little to no interaction with the civilian students, it seemed rather suspicious, especially given what Sasuke knew of how his teammate's mind worked, how impossibly devious and farsighted she could be. But... Naruto was the outlier. Their other teammate wasn't a part of a powerful clan, was 'nothing' in the way of politics and power as far as he knew.

So, why had Kasumi made the conscience effort to befriend the Uzumaki? Unless... Sasuke narrowed his eyes; maybe the dobe wasn't so normal after all? He hadn't missed how Naruto had glossed over how he had defeated Haku after he had been knocked out by the senbon-user and the faint understanding in Kasumi's eyes before she had wordlessly warned him to leave it alone.

He shook his head. Trying to decipher Kasumi's mind was like trying to find pattern in a sea constantly being blown at by a fierce gale. You would think that you found something only for the wind to shift and realize that all you saw was an illusion, a mist created by the spray the ocean continuously flung up. It was maddening, irritating, useless, and endlessly beautiful.

**Butterfly**

"Sasuke-san."

Thoughts splintered by that gentle, calm voice, Sasuke glanced up to see Kasumi looking at him over her shoulder, chocolate brown eyes a shade of startling amber in the bright moonlight. She studied him for a heartbeat and then tilted her head, the skin of her neck pale and creamy, a small smile touching lips of pale pink. "Come here."

Sasuke wasn't in the least sure what she wanted, but found his feet taking him down the shallows stairs of the porch anyways, drawn by that slow, sweet smile. Crossing the distance between them in a few, easy strides, he crouched beside her, gave her a curious look. "What?"

In answer, she nodded at the small plant in front of her and he focused his vision on the innocent looking thing, found nothing out of the ordinary, until -

Sasuke blinked, stared at the oval-shaped, light green, gently translucent... _thing_ hanging from a leaf. He could see something inside of it, a wing with distinct orange and black patterns. "Is that...?"

"A chrysalis," Kasumi told him, naked delight in her voice, "of a monarch butterfly, to be exact. We're very lucky, it's almost time."

"Time?"

She laughed, light and airy. "Watch."

Rather confused, but judging that he probably wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight, Sasuke settled down next to her, keeping his eyes trained on the plant. Two minutes later, five minutes later, he saw it. The barest crack forming at the bottom, the tip of a black wing.

_Oh._

The butterfly emerged from its shell slowly, meticulously, moving with utmost care as not to hurt its newly formed wings. Hanging upside from its former case, Sasuke watched with wide eyes as it attentively, delicately spread its folded, crumpled wings out, detailed, exquisite wings of fire-lit orange and night shadow.

Those wings gradually, unhurriedly grew, expanded as the butterfly hung onto its chrysalis by its forelegs, fluttering every so lightly as the small creature shifted this way and that to get used to its new body, its new surroundings.

It was graceful and magnificent, and he felt an acute thrill of regret for he knew that the butterfly would live for less than a month.

"Many of the most beautiful things in the world are fleeting." Kasumi murmured into the cool morning air, and he belatedly wondered if she had known what he was thinking. "It's why we must treasure them while they last."

Sasuke said nothing, but continued to watch as the butterfly dried its wings off, spread them to their full length. It flapped those wings experimentally once, twice, testing their resilience and durability against the playful wind, so eager for flight, to fly off towards the emerging sunrise that painted the lightening sky rose and violet and an orange that matched its splendid wings.

Quicker now, those fragile wings beating in the air, and the butterfly let go of its perch, free falling for all of a heartbeat, and Sasuke struggled briefly with himself, wanting to save the stunning creature, but knowing from hard-earned experience that some things you had to do by yourself.

It fell... and then its wings beat once, twice, and it rose in the air, hesitant and unsteady but flying, _flying_ after a lifetime of the hard, unyielding earth, and he had the sudden awareness that this was what the butterfly had lived its entire life for.

As a caterpillar crawling on the ground, soft and squishy and all but helpless against the larger forces that could and would trample them in a heartbeat, as a pupa, hiding in its shell, waiting and waiting to emerge, this, this was what it had spent its life anticipating. To fly free in the sky, untouched and graceful, to be what it had always been meant to be.

A soft sigh from the girl beside him, and Sasuke glanced at Kasumi to see a dreamy smile on her face, eyes a deep, radiant coffee concentrated on the butterfly making its way into the multi-colored sky. His heartbeat quickened without his conscious understanding of why, his eyes unable to move away from the raw reverence in hers.

As if feeling his gaze, she turned to smile at him, and without warning, without reason, his heart skipped a beat. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Kasumi asked softly.

Sasuke was silent for a long heartbeat, enough that she gave him a mildly questioning look. He smirked coolly. "Beautiful." He agreed, eyes lingering a fraction too long on her face.

**Time**

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto worried as they escorted Tazuna to the bridge he had yet to finish building. "Are you_ sure _this is okay? What if Kasumi-chan's not okay?"

"Maa, maa, Naruto." Kakashi placated, nose stuck in his book. "I'm sure Kasumi-chan will be fine."

"But, but, but what if she isn't?!" Naruto persisted stubbornly.

Kakashi sighed, absently flipping a page in his Icha Icha. Upon waking up this morning, in no ways surprised to see Sasuke and Kasumi already awake and eating breakfast, he had told his cute little students that while Zabuza and Haku were dead, they still needed to complete their mission.

Naruto had pouted, Sasuke had scowled, and Kasumi had sighed, but the ducklings had reluctantly perked up when Tazuna informed them that it really should only take a week or two. Not long after, Kasumi had pulled him aside discreetly and asked for a day off.

Kakashi had granted her request with an eye-smile, of course, well aware of just how hard the past week had been on her. Unfortunately, her teammates hadn't taken the information well - not even close - and now, he had to deal with two fussy mother-hens.

One that was kicking up quite a racket and the other quiet, but projecting his disapproval through some obscure Uchiha means.

"Kasumi-chan can take care of herself, duckling." Kakashi told Naruto. "Have some faith in your teammate, won't you?"

Naruto opened his mouth, clearly ready to scream his opinion some more, before snapping it shut abruptly, shoulders slumping. "I _know_ she can take care of herself." He said, voice unusually somber. "But what if she wants company and there's no one there?"

The jounin didn't remind him that she was the one that had requested solitude in the first place or inform him that she wasn't alone, but he didn't need to because Sasuke unexpectedly spoke up.

"Hn. She'll be fine, dobe. Stop nagging." He said, hands tucked into his pockets.

Naruto's eye twitched, attention thankfully diverted. "Hey! I'm not nagging!"

"Could have fooled me." Sasuke said dryly.

"What did you say, teme?!"

Kakashi eye-smiled and went back to reading about how Kiki was having some fun with Maru...

**Reflect**

Kasumi sat in front of the graves of Zabuza and Haku, twirling a senbon around her fingers distractedly, mind on her first, first friend.

As she had told Naruto and Sasuke, after she had reached the Village Hidden in the Leaves, she had never really put any thought into what happened to Haku, or truly thought of him at all. Selfish of her, perhaps, heartless, but she had been busy trying to survive day by day... and by the time that she had successfully assimilated to Konoha, he had been a cool memory that she associated primarily with blood and death.

Needless to say, she had done her very best to not dwell on such things.

Then, had come Team 7 and that, in itself, had bought with it a multitude of problems. Getting Naruto and Sasuke to stop arguing, improving their teamwork, teaching Naruto basic shinobi knowledge, sanding away Sasuke's icy exterior...

The list went on and on. And Haku had remained a ghost that she ignored to the best of her ability. Why mull on the past when she had Shikamaru and Shino and Choji and Hinata and Naruto and Sasuke?

When she had first seen the man that the boy she had laughed with on the steps of a Kirigakure orphanage had become, it had been a brutal slap to the face. Kasumi had reeled, her barely steady composure threatening to break apart once more, and tried to convince herself that she had imagined the resemblance, that this man that would become her enemy and try and kill her was not the boy she had left on the steps of a Kirigakure orphanage.

That precarious assumption hadn't lasted beyond two minutes during the battle on the unfinished bridge.

Now, Kasumi sighed, falling back so she could stare at the clouds as a certain lazy Nara loved to do. He was probably rubbing off on her, she thought with a small smile, unable to find it in her normally proudly efficient self to be concerned. Her eyes followed the fluffy, white clouds above, outlined so perfectly against the clear blue sky and she began to analyze how exactly Haku had changed... adapted.

He was a missing-nin and the accomplice of Momochi Zabuza for one. Kasumi, for all that Zabuza had almost killed her, could find no fault in Haku's decision. She was glad that he had found someone to live for, a purpose, an anchor, for she knew what it was to survive in life without one.

She had several. Her brother... her brothers since the beginning. And then, her friends, and her goal to become one of the Intelligence Division, because she needed to have some aspect of control in her life and information was the best path to that. If she knew what was going on with herself, with her friends and family, with the village, she could maintain some of the control that remained so essential to her sanity.

And then... Team 7, but that was something else entirely.

Her mind went over the battle, the simple ease in which Haku had used his bloodline. He had always had it, but back in the orphanage, she remembered his hesitance in using the Yuki Clan's talent to its full extent. Such a skill was the reason his parents were dead and that naturally introduced distaste for the bloodline.

But when she had fought him with Naruto and Sasuke, he had been frighteningly proficient with the Ice Release, used it without batting an eyelid. For Zabuza, she had deduced. Haku had done it for Zabuza, but that didn't change the pure fact that he had _done_ it.

He hadn't shied away from his bloody past, from his 'curse', his 'gift', and that... that was something Kasumi hadn't had the courage to do.

Distantly, darkly, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, she would have been able to take on Haku if she hadn't suppressed her bloodline all those years ago. If she had taken her bloodline and honed it instead of hiding it away, used it in spars instead of pretended it didn't exist.

Would things have gone so badly? Would she have been knocked out, Sasuke forced to sacrifice himself for Naruto, Naruto pained enough to draw on the Kyubi?!

She had known what Naruto had done. Figured it out in less than a second, because in Mist, knowledge of jinchuriki was common, wide-spread. Everyone knew of the human sacrifices after Yagura... after the Yondaime Mizukage. Combined with the knowledge of the Nine-Tailed attack more than a decade ago and it wasn't a hard connection to make, especially with the way the villagers treated Naruto.

Kasumi had known... and she was sorry, grievously sorry for causing the blonde to draw on the fox, because it was evident that Naruto had lost something when he had done so and that could be a problem later on and she had never meant to hurt her teammate.

Either of them.

Sasuke had said nothing, but she didn't have to be a mind-reader to register that watching her 'die' must have bought up bad memories for him, too. If she had done as Haku had done, embraced her past instead of running away, would things have gone better?

How many times in the past had her brother asked her whether she wanted to learn a new jutsu - a Water Release one?

How many times had she refused because she had watched her family and friends and home fall to one?

Senbon. She rolled the metal needle between her fingers, taking in its cold, smooth surface. Haku had been terribly good with the senbon. She knew he had been holding back when he had fought her team because all of them were still alive and mere days later, as good as new, but he could have killed them easily, so easily.

Too easily.

Pressure points and weaknesses. Easy things, really. All you had to do was get your hands on an anatomy book, talk to some medics, and find target practice. Be dedicated, have a good eye and a good aim, work hard, observe others, and you could identify your opponent's weak points and bring them down with some strategically placed senbon.

Perfect for someone with fast speed, moderate strength, a photographic memory, and advanced observation skills.

A small smile curved Kasumi's lips. She knew what needed to be done. That was enough of running. She wasn't a coward and she refused to act like one anymore. If she had to plow straight past her fears and nightmares to do, then so be it.

"Kakashi-sensei." She called out lightly.

A pause and then the shadow clone of her sensei jumped down from a tree, bending his head to look at her from above. "Maa, how long have you known, Kasumi-chan?"

"Some time," She admitted and held up the senbon in her hand. "Do you think I could use senbon in battle?"

Kakashi observed her closely for several moments. Kasumi waited patiently, watched as he obviously reached a conclusion and eye-smiled cheerfully at her. "I don't see why not."

"Excellent." And she had no doubts her brother would be delighted to pass on some water jutsu to her. Kasumi pushed herself to her feet gracefully and grinned spiritedly at the clone. "You can inform Kakashi-sensei I will be joining everyone else in five minutes."

The clone chuckled, gave her a lazy salute. "Good for you, Kasumi-chan." He disappeared in a poof of smoke and she shook her head.

Tension leaching out of her body for what seemed to be the first time in days, Kasumi Fumei glanced up at the brightly shining sun and smiled.

She would be okay.

* * *

_Next time:_

_"A-Ah. K-Kasumi?" Sakura stared back at her with wide green eyes._

* * *

**Me: Kasumi does some reflecting. And here are the reviews!~**

**ShikiUploadz: Kyaa! No, that's not how it works! Guns are prohibited in this fandom! :P**

**starrat: Awesome! Hope you enjoyed this one, too!**

**Rosy Fire: Whoopsies! Thanks again for bringing it to my attention!**

**Arcana The Wolf: Hmmm... that sorta happens? Lolz, Kasumi does get over it. Takes some time, but she does it! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**bunnyguest: Well, Sasuke is somewhat friendlier. Kakashi probably knows all of this already, sneaky sensei that he is. XD Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Sonata Fuling: Great! I'm so happy you liked it! Hope you enjoy this chapter, too! Thanks so much for the review, sweetie!**

**TheQueenofGoodbyes: It's wonderful that you liked it, hun! I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I? ^_^**

**rinievermilion: Lolz, Sasuke seems to think so. Thanks for the review!**

**1XxKiraXx1: Thank you so much! Sweetie, your review made my day. Really! *blushes* Kasumi did have a very hard time accepting what was happening. She basically just stuck her past in a dark hole and tried to push on. Poor girl, but it looks like she's doing better! Thank you for your beautiful, beautiful review!**

**lostfeather1: *cries with you* Kasumi has been going through a lot recently. But I think you hit bulls-eye with your assessment! Her teammates do understand her more after the big reveal. Thanks for your review, darling!**

**Nikita: Lolz, I don't think you're the only one. Well, since Kiri is the Village Hidden in the Waves, I though scattering the ashes of dead shinobi into the sea was a way of honoring them, returning them to the home that they've protected for so long. Sasuke and Kasumi... they're on their way! Kakashi is aware of what's going on with Kasumi, he just knows that, right now, she'd prefer to think it through on her own. Thanks for the great review, hun!**

**wookie. cookie. : Awesome! I'm so happy that you like my story! No, no, no, feel free to spam me with reviews! I shall enjoy every one of them! The Chunin Exams... they're coming up alright! XD**

**Suki: Lolz, I'm glad you think so! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, sweetie!**

**Marie: Yup, yup! And this time, we have some reflections and understanding! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Bella-swan11: Sasuke is a stubborn guy and he gets that Kasumi's had a rough time with it. Hopefully, he won't be too oblivious! Thanks for the review!**

**michi-nin: Ah, I'm honored! I hope you liked this chapter, too!**

**Me: Soo many reviews! Thank you all so much! And, of course, thanks to my wonderful, wonderful beta! Couldn't do it without her! Please review and take a look at my blog! (Although, recently, the website's been a bit touchy)**


	18. Return

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

**Kasumi: That's right. You should also review and check out Author-san's blog.**

**Me: *pouts* Kasumi-chan! You got to it before I could say it!**

**Kasumi: There, there...**

* * *

_Last time:_

_Tension leaching out of her body for what seemed to be the first time in days, Kasumi Fumei glanced up at the brightly shining sun and smiled._

_She would be okay._

* * *

**Bridge**

Two weeks later, Kasumi very carefully suppressed her amusement while watching the spectacle of Inari and Naruto saying goodbye.

"Don't worry! We'll come to visit!" Naruto promised.

"You... better..." Inari replied, eyes suspiciously wet and bottom lip trembling.

"Inari... you're sad, right?" Naruto's eyes were suspiciously wet, too, and his smile was a tad shaky. "It's alright to cry!"

"But I'm not going to cry!" Inari declared determinedly. "But Naruto, you can cry, too!"

The blonde promptly spun on his heel. "Fine. Later."

"Ah!" Clearly heartbroken, Inari flung out a hand, as if trying to catch his newfound idol.

'Oh dear...' Kasumi smiled indulgently at the near identical looks of the two boys as Naruto walked off, tears streaming down their faces and snot running into their lips. 'It's almost like they're twins...'

"That boy changed Inari's heart and Inari changed the people's hearts... that boy gave us a bridge to hope called courage." Tazuna said with a proud smile, looking after Naruto gratefully.

"Grandpa? What are we going to name this bridge?" Inari piped up and interested, Kasumi lagged a bit behind her team, using a small amount of chakra to enhance her hearing.

"Oh yeah, we need to name this bridge." Tazuna hummed thoughtfully. "Well, I have a perfect name for this bridge..."

"Oh?! What is it?"

"How about... The Great Naruto Bridge?!"

"Hehe, that's a good name."

'The Great Naruto Bridge, huh?' Kasumi glanced at her grinning teammate, a small, contemplative smile curling her lips. 'Inari-san's right. That is a good name."

"Yay!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air, cerulean eyes sparkling. "Let's get home fast so I can have Iruka-sensei buy me some ramen! Oh, yeah! And I have to tell Konohamaru about my legendary feats!"

Legendary feats? Shaking her head, she laughed lightly, saying, "More ramen? I think we need to talk about your eating habits, Naruto-san."

"That and his wardrobe," Sasuke commented with a smirk. "All that orange."

Naruto looked blatantly horrified. "Kasumi-chan! Teme! You can't take away my ramen and my jumpsuit!"

"We're also going to have to do some more training..." Kasumi sighed, already going over the exercises that they were going to be going through later.

"Training?" If Sasuke wasn't the antisocial, perpetual brooder that he was, she mused, his eyes would be twinkling. Like Naruto's were.

"Mm-hm. We're also going to have to go through some tactics meetings, shock stimuli... ah, and probably some speed drills."

"Eeh?" Naruto complained. "That sounds boring, Kasumi-chan!"

"And perhaps we should get to that textbook you've been putting off..." She went on casually.

"Kasumi-chan!"

Kakashi eye-smiled and casually turned a page in his book. Kimi-chan was seducing Mizu-kun this chapter...

**Return**

"Yatta! I see Konoha!" Naruto announced loudly and rather unnecessarily, considering that they could all see the large gates coming up ahead of them.

Sasuke scoffed silently, but could admit, if only inside the privacy of his own mind, that he was glad to see Konoha, too. Their mission had taken less time than had been expected, but it had still been almost a month since they had left the Hidden Village of the Leaf and it was... refreshing to be back.

Thankfully, it hadn't taken their Team long to make the returning journey. Last time, Tazuna had slowed them down enough that they had to move along at an aggravatingly slow pace, not that Sasuke had let himself show his frustration. This time, moving at ninja speed with no one to drag them down, and with all of them proficient enough in tree-walking and water-walking to boost their speed, they had made quick time in returning home.

A gentle sigh from his right had the Uchiha flicking a gaze at his female teammate. She was staring at the tall gates of Konoha with a fond smile, brown eyes soft and liquid warm. Sasuke observed her out of the corner of his eye with faint fascination.

The cream-haired girl had always possessed a strange sort of composure, near permanently kind and patient. In all his years at the Academy, Sasuke had never truly seen Kasumi lose her composure, not even in highly stressful or irritating situations. No matter the circumstances, she would tranquilly take in the details, gather conclusions, and do what she deemed necessary to rectify the case.

Even after being placed on Team 7, she had maintained that effortlessly low-key, harmonious bearing - and Sasuke was well aware that the arguments between himself and the dobe could try even a saint's patience. Oh, that wasn't to say that she wasn't frustrated at times, or that she didn't take her own forms of revenge on them when they pushed her too hard - because, damn, Kasumi could be vengeful when she wanted to be - but her subtly warm equilibrium always flowed rhythmically beneath her exasperation.

It had been after they had arrived in the Land of Waves when Sasuke had first sensed that understated poise waver. It hadn't particularly been anything that she had done or said, but he had felt it, nonetheless, like a fine shift of the wind against his pale skin. And he knew the dobe had felt it, too, even if he hadn't showed it.

Against Zabuza, she had froze and in the wake of her nightmares, she had flinched, but until that day, when Haku had lain dead on the bridge, his blood crimson red against the white snow, Sasuke had _never_ seen her serenity just... shatter.

Kasumi hadn't sobbed, hadn't let her sorrow impair her judgment, hadn't broken down weeping, hadn't... betrayed much of anything, really. If it weren't for the perilously devastated look in her bitter chocolate brown eyes and the silent tears that had treaded down her porcelain cheeks, Sasuke wouldn't have known that anything was wrong. Drawn by protective instinct and a hesitant desire to comfort, he had tugged her into his arms and watched as her composure fractured completely.

It had been the proudest, most self-possessed breakdown he had ever seen, and Sasuke had seen his fair share of breakdowns.

As they walked through the gates of Konoha, easily getting past the check point - he suspected Kakashi had something to do with that - he could all but see her quiet equanimity settle back over her, akin to the donning of a samurai's armor or the replacement of a queen's crown.

Kasumi glanced at him, sensing his gaze perhaps. "Something wrong, Sasuke-san?" She questioned softly, too soft for the others to hear, although he was under no delusions that Kakashi would be able to eavesdrop if he were so inclined.

"No. Everything's fine." He claimed coolly and after a moment of probing eye contact, she nodded gracefully, accepting the excuse.

"Ichiraku Ramen! I'm coming for you!" The dobe screamed, throwing his arms into the air.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. What an idiot.

**Review**

Sighing softly in relief, Kasumi completed the last step and stood in front of her house's door. Retrieving her key nonchalantly, she unlocked the door and stepped into her home for the first time in several weeks.

"KASUMI-CHAN!" A green and brown blur slammed into her milliseconds later. She gasped, rocking back on impact before finding herself trapped in a bear hug of the highest magnitude. "You're back! I was so worried about you!"

This time, her sigh was of exasperation. Her brother had always been a bit of a drama queen when it came to his beloved little sister. Then again, with what had happened to the rest of their family, she couldn't blame him. "I'm back, Onii-san." Kasumi confirmed, returning Hiroshi's enthusiastic hug, though with notable decreased force.

He finally pulled back with a wide grin, brown eyes a shade lighter than her own twinkling happily. "How'd it go? You're not hurt, are you? I swear, if you're hurt, I'm going to go track down that Hatake Kakashi and -"

"Onii-san!" Kasumi interrupted sharply. When he paused and blinked at her, she raised an eyebrow and calmly pointed out, "We're still standing in our doorway."

"Oh, right!" Grin unfaltering, he dragged her inside the house and all but forced her into sitting in a chair at the dining table. "I'll make us dinner while you tell me what happened, all right?"

Kasumi smiled sweetly. While her older brother could be terribly overbearing and protective, she knew he loved her. "Well... it started off with a client named Tazuna from the Land of Waves..."

**Talk**

"Eeh?!" Choji stared at her with wide eyes, a potato chip dangling from his fingers. "You guys went on a C-rank mission?!"

Kasumi played a senbon absently between her fingers, trying to get a feel for the weapon. She quickly smashed the natural inclination to tell her friends that they hadn't only gone on a C-rank mission - they had gone on an A-rank mission, fought Momichi Zabuza and his protégé, and came out _alive_. It was tempting to brag, to boast, to speak of her pride in her team, but this was classified information and she was all too aware of the consequences for a loose mouth. "Mm-hm."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru groaned, staring desolately at the clouds above. "Once Ino finds out about this, she'll want us to go on a C-rank mission, too."

"I-I th-think that's g-great, K-Kasumi-chan." Hinata smiled timidly, taking care not to tug too hard as she braided the other girl's hair.

"Was it a strenuous mission?" Shino inquired and, mildly surprised, she sent him a questioning look. "You appear to be more complacent. As no other major event has occurred to explain the change, it is logical to assume that your recent mission was the catalyst." He elaborated, adjusting his glasses.

Ah. Kasumi smiled thoughtfully, unsure how to feel about this new development. For all that her friends were all certainly observant in their own ways, for some reason, she hadn't expected them to be able to pick up on the toll the mission had taken on her. It spoke of a potentially fatal crack in her shields, but at the same time, it reflected well on her friendships.

_Had_ it been a strenuous mission? Her immediate reaction was to reply in the positive - how could anyone say that it _hadn't_ been a difficult mission for a genin? And even for a jounin as strong as Kakashi was? - but something stopped her and she took a moment to mull over the question.

"Yes." She said at last. "But... I think it was worth it."

Shino paused and although she couldn't see his eyes, she had the feeling that he was evaluating her. After a beat, he nodded and she wondered if she had passed or failed.

"A-Ah. D-Did anything bad h-happen?" Hinata asked.

Bad. How, Kasumi wondered, was she supposed to define such a word? Fighting against two chunin missing-nin and winning. Killing one of them without batting an eyelid. Meeting an A-rank ninja, an Anbu missing-nin no less. Almost getting killed by said missing-nin. Finding out that your first friend ever was your enemy... fighting that friend... almost getting killed by that friend. Watching that friend and his purpose for living die in front of your eyes.

Was that considered "bad"?

"It went as expected." Kasumi said, and it wasn't a lie. After being ambushed by the Demon Brothers, it _had_ gone exactly as expected. Which was to say, horribly. "I'm fine. We're _all_ fine."

She politely ignored the tomato red of the Hyuga Heiress' face she could see in the corner of her eye, as did everyone else. They all knew who Hinata had been worried about, especially after seeing for herself that Kasumi was safe and healthy.

"Well, I don't think Team 7 will be going on anymore C-ranks for a while." She murmured into the peaceful quiet.

"So back to D-ranks for you guys?" Choji looked sympathetic and she smiled reassuringly at him.

"Most likely. But it'll be a nice reprieve nonetheless." Kasumi looked up at the blue, blue sky and breathed out slowly. 'And yet... who knows how long this reprieve will last?'

She really needed to master the senbon quickly.

**Encounter**

"Sakura-san?" Startled, Kasumi blinked at the pink-haired girl she had met entirely by chance in the hospital. The other girl had almost bumped into her in fact, view obscured by the tall pile of medical files she held in her hands, but Kasumi had managed to swerve at the last second, avoiding a head-on collision. "You look... different."

It was an understatement. Sakura wore the highly distinctive medical robes that medical apprentices wore, her long, silky pink hair tied up into a practical ponytail, the near-perpetual love-sick look on her face that Kasumi had reluctantly grown used to in the Academy nowhere in sight, replaced by a clear, focused gaze and a look of surprised recognition.

"A-Ah. K-Kasumi?" Sakura stared back at her with wide green eyes.

Furrowing her brow minutely, Kasumi searched her memory for an answer to her confusion. The last time she had seen Sakura had been at the team placements, she realized. If she remembered correctly, the rosette had been placed in Team 3... but Team 3 hadn't passed, had it?

No, only Team 7 and Team 8 and Team 10.

So, following that train of thought, Sakura had most likely failed her sensei's exam, which should have sent her back to the Academy.

But, it was very clear that hadn't happened. So...

"The Medical Corps took an interest in you?" Kasumi asked softly, recalling the other girl's exceptional grades, memory, and chakra control. The only reason Kasumi had been number-one kunoichi had been because her taijutsu skills had been vastly higher than Sakura's.

"Ye-Yeah." Sakura smiled wryly, pushing a strand of pink hair behind her ear self-consciously. "They said that my chakra-control was good enough for me to be a medic and offered me the chance to be an apprentice."

Kasumi was silent for a long heartbeat, noting the way Sakura stood up straight, held her head up high, eyes steady and confident. "It looks like it's been treating you well, Sakura-san." She said with a sincere smile.

Apart from the regular surveillance that she had done for all of her classmates in those years, Kasumi had never particularly paid much attention to Sakura, attentive as she had been to the burden of the rosette's obsession with Sasuke. But that hadn't meant she had completely dismissed her. As Ino had once seen the strength hidden by insecurity, so Kasumi had seen the potential suppressed behind childish infatuation.

As a rule, Kasumi found fangirls annoying, if only because they lived their days by clinging to a boy that could leave them at any time, wasting their lives away. However, everyone made mistakes and if Sakura had managed to climb her way out of that wasteful pit, then Kasumi held no grudge against her.

Sakura's smile was genuinely pleased, green eyes lighting up happily. "Thanks." She halted to shift the folders about to slip out of her hand back into place and said slowly, "It's hard, you know. Medical work. But... I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Where are you going?" Kasumi asked, gesturing towards the stack of folders.

"Oh. I have to file these," She explained. "These patients have left, but we keep track of everyone that's had a visit here, so..."

"Ah." Kasumi deliberated for a second and then said, "Would you happen to know a few books on pressure points?"

Simply because Sakura had been mostly useless in the Academy didn't mean she would be helpless and incompetent forever. And having an acquaintance in the hospital and was a skilled medic to boot wouldn't hurt. It helped that, aside from her rivalry with Ino and obsession with Sasuke, from what Kasumi had seen, Sakura _wasn't_ a lousy friend.

Sakura gave her a curious look. "Sure. What for?"

"Training." Her smile had a sheepish edge, as if at a little inside joke. "I'm a bit of a workaholic."

The rosette laughed cheerfully, as Kasumi had intended. "Well, you always used to read those books back in the Academy..."

"Sakura-san!" She jibbed lightly. "You, of all people, should know just how essential books are." After all, Sakura had been nearly just as much of a bookworm as Kasumi was.

Sakura grinned, shaking her head. "Of course I do. Come on, I'll show you some medical books."

"Thank you." Kasumi replied courteously. "What stage are you in training?"

"Well, my sensei's recently gotten me started on tissue repairing and..."

**Tension**

"Kasumi-chan!" Said girl glanced to her left, pushing off from the railing, to see a familiar orange-clad blonde making his way to the bridge.

"Naruto-san." She smiled warmly. "How did you sleep?"

"Really good! I dreamt of ramen!" Naruto grinned sunnily, cerulean blue eyes sparkling.

"Really _well."_ Kasumi corrected gently. "You haven't been eating only ramen recently, have you?"

"Umm... err..." He scratched the back of his neck, not meeting her eyes.

She sighed deeply, conveying her disappointment with ease, though she said nothing. She had been after the blonde to eat healthy for a week now - how in the world had he survived on ramen for so long and not had a malnutrition problem, no matter his status as a jinchuriki? - and he knew it.

Naruto squirmed guiltily. "I'm sorry, Kasumi-chan."

"Hn." Sasuke, leaning on the rail with his elbows on the opposite side of her, finally designed to speak up. Condescendingly. "Dobe."

Naruto flared up. "What was that, teme?!"

"You heard what I said." Sasuke said flatly.

Kasumi discretely narrowed her eyes as she watched her two teammates fight with each other. It couldn't even be called friendly bickering anymore. Ever since they had returned since the Waves mission, the tension between the two had skyrocketed, and their teamwork had suffered as a result. This couldn't be allowed to go on.

Frowning mildly, she considered several different ways to address this problem and without a drop of guilt - there was a limit to the foolishness she expected herself to endure without complaint - decided on a win-win situation. In her opinion, at least.

"Boys." She interrupted smoothly and scowling, they turned to look at her. Utterly unaffected by their annoyance, she raised a light eyebrow. "I have a new training idea."

Of course, _that_ got their attention. Kasumi sniffed inwardly as she made her way to the training grounds, her teammates following behind her sullenly and, no doubt, glaring at each other behind her back. _Boys_.

Slipping a hand into her weapons pouch, she deftly grabbed several senbon and spun around, raising her hand to show it to her teammates. They blinked at her, momentarily distracted from their glaring contest.

"... Kasumi-chan?" Naruto's frown was worried, his eyes glued to the deadly weapon in her hand that, as of yet, she had little practice in using.

"I've decided," She declared calmly, "that I will be using senbon from now."

"Oh." Bewilderment melted into understanding and Naruto grinned at her, bright and open. "That's awesome, Kasumi-chan!"

The look Sasuke gave her was assessing, but he nodded subtly and she knew that, if he didn't outright approve, than he, at least, understood her decision.

Kasumi's returning smile was soft and sweet and just a _little _devious. "The thing is..." She drawled nonchalantly, "I have had very limited experience with using senbon as weapons."

Sasuke tensed abruptly, obsidian eyes dropping to bore into the innocent-looking senbon held between her fingers. Naruto cocked his head to the side, evidently not getting it yet.

"Seeing as all of our reaction times could use some work," She continued pleasantly, "I'm sure Naruto-san and Sasuke-san won't mind helping me refine my technique."

The color drained out of Naruto's face, horror stealing over his face as he finally understood what she was saying. His mouth opened, closed, opened again. "K-Kasumi-chan, I-I don-don't think th-this is n-necessary -"

Her smile was beatific. "Wonderful." Flicking her wrist casually, she threw three senbon with frightening speed and force at the boys, who blanched, darting away rapidly.

"Kasumi-chan!"

"Damn it, Kasumi!"

Her laugh was warm, sweet in the crisp morning air, the clouds above white and fluffy, the wind, ever so playful, blowing through her cream hair.

**Prior**

By the time Kakashi arrived at their bridge, a whole three and a half hours later instead of his normal three hours in a mandatory change of pace - in his humble opinion - he was greeted with a half-hearted, "Kakashi-sensei, you're late!", a lackluster glare, and a serene, "Good morning, Kakashi-sensei."

Blinking owlishly at his cute little students with his one eye, he found it prudent to ask, "What happened to you two? You look like crap."

The two in question, Sasuke and Naruto, did their best to kill him via glaring, but couldn't seem to muster enough energy to do so, much to his amusement. Lips quirking beneath his mask, Kakashi did a thorough lookover of his male students.

For one, both of them looked quite ragged, if he was honest. There were small holes in their clothing, particularly Naruto's jumpsuit. For two, they seemed wholly exhausted; shoulders slumped and all but collapsed over the fence of the bridge.

Then, there were the faint scratches on their face and arms and legs and...

"Kasumi-chan." His female, ultimately flawless, student looked up at him and smiled innocently, not a hair on her head out of place. Kakashi eye-smiled back, chirping, "Let's try not to kill the boys, alright? It'd be inconvenient to have to find replacements at this time of year."

She blinked, brown eyes angelic and chaste. "Kakashi-sensei!" Kasumi protested. "I'll have you know that I practiced on wooden dummies beforehand _and_ managed to avoid all of the vital spots."

Sasuke's eye twitched and Naruto collapsed on the ground in a boneless heap, mumbling under his breath.

Kakashi sweatdropped and speedily whipped out his orange book. "Okay! To the Hokage's Tower, minions! The D-ranks await!"

Naruto's aghast cry of "KAKASHI-SENSEI!" scared all of the crows out of the trees.

* * *

_Next time:_

_"You never did tell us about your bloodline," Sasuke reminded her, chin rested on his fist._

* * *

**Me: Alright! The reviews!**

**Guest: Oh, thank you! XD**

**1XxKiraXx1: I'm so happy you think so! Sasuke and Kasumi are adorable. And, well, Kasumi-chan might want to use senbon, but it looks like it'll take her a while to get the hang of it... thanks for the review!**

**ShikiUploadz: :o. All weapons prohibited! Ah, and violence. As for Sakura... *shrugs* she seems to have changed slightly? Thanks for the review!**

**Rosy Fire: Err... no? Lolz, sorry to disappoint ya! But Kasumi did meet Sakura. And it was actually pretty peaceful. *peace sign* Thanks for the review, hun!**

**starrat: Here's the update! ^_^**

**lostfeather1: I think you may be right! That'll really be best case scenario, seeing as, like Sasuke, Kasumi's already lost the family she once had. Hmm... almost time for the Chunin Exams! But not yet. Some loose ends must be tied up first! Thanks for the review, dear!**

**Arcana The Wolf: Lolz, you got that right! Umm... did the meeting with Kasumi and Sakura fit your imagination? They were pretty civil, all things concerned. :D. Thanks for the review!**

**wookiee. cookie: Aww, thank you! I'm delighted that you enjoyed it! Hope you liked this chapter, too!**

**Nikita: Hmm... that was an awesome scene to write. I might slip some more in the future, though, for now, Kasumi's gonna be preoccupied with the Chunin Exams. After everything that's happened, I think Kasumi did need to find her center again. Lolz, Kakashi's a mother-hen in his own way - just like Naruto and Sasuke - so he was being a little hypocritical towards them. Not that he cares. Thanks for the lovely review, hun!**

**rinievermilion: Well... cliches are fun? Lolz, I don't think Sasuke's the type for direct romance anyways. Sakura... I don't think she even knows Sasuke sorta, maybe likes Kasumi. Wonder what'll happen when she finds out? Thanks for the review!**

**MylaUchiha: Next time, I promise~**

**Suki: Lolz, I'll try and incorporate them, though the Chunin Exams are coming up and being a bother, really. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**BurnedSpy: Here ya go!**

**TheQueenofGoodbyes: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Serenity10116: Lolz, here's your update, dear! I hope you like it. XD**

**michi-nin: Aww, thank you! Yeah... Sasuke and Naruto are kinda taking the brunt of her training with senbon. Senbon in the Chunin Exams? Probably. Soon all the Rookie Nine will be together again! Thanks for your review, sweetie!**

**ArcticIllustrator: I'm glad to hear you think so! I hope you liked this chapter! **

**Marie: Lolz, you're very welcome, dear. **

**Anime hotty lover. 18: Alright, don't panic, here's your update!**

**Me: Kyaa! So many reviews! Thank you all! Ah, and thanks to my wonderful, glorious beta. She's awesome. Oh, review and take a look at my blog, please!**

**Question: What song comes to mind when you think of this story?**


	19. Limits

**Me: I do not own Naruto~**

**Kasumi: That's right. I don't know why you would own my teammate in the first place.**

**Me: *laughs nervously* You all should review and check out my blog.**

* * *

_Last time:_

_Kakashi sweatdropped and speedily whipped out his orange book. "Okay! To the Hokage's Tower, minions! The D-ranks await!"_

_Naruto's aghast cry of "KAKASHI-SENSEI!" scared all of the crows out of the trees._

* * *

**Dogs**

"Argh!" Naruto screamed, digging his heels into the ground. "Get back here!"

Predictably, the three large, strong, _bulky_ dogs that the blonde was supposed to be walking paid no attention to him and continued to barrel ahead.

"... Dobe." Sasuke commented, eyeing the grooves Naruto was wearing in the street with annoyance. "Repairing that will probably be our next mission." He kept a handle on the pair of medium-sized dogs he had picked out with ease.

Kasumi let out a small laugh, pausing considerately when the young puppy she was taking care of went off to paw at some leaves, tail wagging. "Probably." She agreed, glancing ahead to where it looked like the dogs were walking _Naruto_ instead. "I told him not to take all three..." She sighed.

Sasuke just smirked, stopping a few steps in front of her and tugging firmly on the reins when his dogs protested. "Hn. He's stubborn."

"Tell me about it." She murmured, pulling gently to encourage her puppy to keep on moving.

Half a street ahead, Naruto's eyes widened a second before he slammed head-first into a building. "AHHH!"

**Water**

"Eeh? Kasumi-chan, you want to learn a water jutsu?" Hiroshi stared blankly at his little sister, his chopsticks halfway held up to his mouth and in no way looking like they were going to budge.

Said girl gave him an amused look, her smile indulgent. "I do. Onii-san, please close your mouth and chew."

Blinking rapidly, Hiroshi did as bid, forehead scrunched up. He couldn't believe it! Kasumi was asking him to teach her _water_ ninjutsu! He had all been trying to force them down her throat a few weeks ago!

"I suppose this is a product of that Wave mission you took?" He asked quietly, none of his usual exuberance in sight.

Her smile faded slightly, but her nod was firm. "Well, Onii-san?"

Hiroshi snorted, putting down his chopsticks to reach across the table to ruffle his little sister's hair to her exasperated sigh. "Of course I will!" He exclaimed with a wide smile. "Really, Kasumi-chan! You act like I haven't been nagging you to learn some for the past few years!"

Kasumi raised a cool eyebrow. "So, you do admit that you're a mother-hen, Onii-san?"

"Ah!" Hiroshi jerked back with a gasp, almost tipping over his chair. Eyebrow twitching, he pointed a trembling finger at her. "Don't say it! Don't ever say it again! I am _not_ a mother-hen!"

"Mm-hm." The sarcasm was real.

"Kasumi-chan!" As was the horror.

**Potatoes**

"... I hate potatoes." Naruto declared sulkily.

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke barked, but his glare was somewhat lessened by the streaks of dirt on his face.

"What did you say, teme?!"

"Boys." Kasumi sighed wearily, brushing the back of her hand across her forehead to wipe off the sweat. It was noon and the sun was scorching hot and the _last_ thing she wanted to do right now was dig potatoes out of the ground. Her teammates' bickering wasn't helping much. "The faster we finish this, the faster we can leave."

Naruto grumbled and Sasuke scowled, but they turned their attention back to digging the accursed potatoes out of the ground, getting dirt everywhere. Again. Taking in a deep breath, Kasumi shot a quietly annoyed glance at their sensei, who was lounging under the shade of a tree with his orange book in hand.

She made a mental note to get her team started on the breaking and entering part of the shinobi life.

Sasuke had the fire and Naruto had the stealth and she had the brains. It would be good practice getting the porn their sensei was so obsessed with in their hands. And burning it. Yup, good practice. This wasn't about how Kakashi-sensei wasn't helping them with their missions at all. Nope.

Kasumi politely ignored that small voice in her head that pointed out she was being vindictive and their sensei was a jounin and an ex-Anbu to boot.

Half an hour later and three more bouts of arguing from her teammates, the kunoichi exhaled sharply and threw her hands in the air, immediately catching said teammates' wary attention. "I have had it." She said, not raising her voice but enunciating every word in a way that had Naruto inching away slowly and Sasuke looking faintly cautious.

God damn it, Kasumi was the most patient of Team 7 but she _hated_ the heat. She supposed it came from being born in a land of rain and mist.

"Naruto-san." She turned smoothly on her blonde teammate, who stared back at her with wide blue eyes. "Shadow clones. Now."

Naruto lit up, a bright grin stretching over his face. Initially, Kasumi had been reluctant to allow her teammate to use shadow clones to get them out of every mission - there _was_ a reason genin took these missions, after all, even if they were the most stupid time-consuming tasks she had ever had to do - but their teamwork was getting _worse_, not better, and she was going to get sunburns at this rate.

"You got it, Kasumi-chan!" Naruto snapped his fingers into the familiar seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Both Kasumi and Sasuke were both used to this enough that neither of them batted an eyelid when Naruto _spammed _a few dozen clones in the next second. Kasumi would have been fine with only a few more helping hands, but she didn't complain.

"Groups of three." She commanded crisply. "Potatoes in piles, please."

"HAI!" The Naruto clones chorused and, with plenty of ribbing and arguing, began to split up.

Behind her, Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief and sat back, shoving a strand of ebony hair out of his eyes. "We should have done this sooner." He muttered as Naruto collapsed next to him, panting and complaining about needing a drink. Oh, and some ramen.

Kasumi hummed in agreement, paying no mind to the mildly chiding look Kakashi-sensei had shot her before starting his giggling fest once more. "Naruto-san, how long do you think they'll take?"

Naruto shrugged, splayed out on the dirty ground without a care, each of his four limbs flung out in a different direction. "Dunno." He yawned loudly. "I'll know when they're done though."

"How?" She asked absently, frowning at her hair. God, she needed a shower.

"I just do." Was the unhelpful answer.

Kasumi frowned subtly, thinking over what she knew about the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It wasn't a lot - mostly her own observations and what little her brother had told her - but she was fairly certain that the Water Clone Technique didn't work like that. "Does it happen when the clone dispels?"

"Mm-hm." Naruto remained slumped on the ground, blissfully unaware, but Sasuke straightened up, giving her a calculative look. She assumed he wanted to know where she was going with this.

"Has it always been this way?" She questioned, feeling like this was important, important, important. That reminded her - Kasumi really needed to do something about her bloodline, too.

"Yeah." Naruto cranked open an eye to frown at her. "Why are you asking me so many questions, Kasumi-chan? I've been using Shadow Clone Jutsu for a long time and you never said anything before!"

Kasumi didn't answer Naruto's question directly, but turned towards their sensei. "Kakashi-sensei?" She called, continuing when he looked up to eye-smile at her. "Do you know anything... unusual about shadow clones?"

Kakashi chuckled indulgently, "Sharp as ever, neh, Kasumi-chan?"

"So there is something?" Sasuke said, a small furrow between his brows.

"That's right. Shadows clones are unique in that whatever the shadow clone experiences, the original user does as well once the clone dispels." Kakashi revealed casually as said shadows clones started to finish up with their given task.

"Eeh?! What does that mean?" Naruto didn't get it and he made that abundantly clear. Pouting, he turned to Kasumi; she always knew what was going on and was willing to explain it to him.

"It means," She said slowly, dark brown eyes distant like they normally were when she was thinking through complicated stuff, "that you have a very big advantage, Naruto-san."

He furrowed his brow. "Huh?"

"Think about it. If your shadow clones can relate all of their experiences back to you, then that means, with your inordinately large amount of clones, you could fit two months of training into two days."

"..." Naruto took a second to think about it before pumping his fist into the air. "That's so cool!"

"Hn. You should teach us that jutsu, dobe." Sasuke said with a scowl.

"No." To their surprise, that came from Kakashi, his voice sterner than they had ever before heard it. His one eye glared at them seriously. "Do you hear me? Sasuke, Kasumi, you two are never to _attempt_ to perform that jutsu without me there to supervise."

"Why not?" Sasuke snapped, obsidian eyes burning. "What's so special about the dobe?!"

Kasumi saw Naruto bristle at his rival's dismissive tone. She also saw the pain that he tried to hide. "It's chakra." She said gently, careful not to irritate Sasuke further. "Shadows clones divide the user's chakra evenly, right, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Absolutely right, Kasumi-chan!" Kakashi chirped, previous solemnity gone in a blink. "Naruto has extremely large reserves. You and Sasuke don't. Trying to do what the orange munchkin does on a daily basis would probably lead to a coma, if not an outright death."

"Oh." Naruto had initially brightened up at the apparent compliment, only to deflate in horror. "That's... that's..."

Sasuke was silent, torn between grudging acceptance and acid fury. On one hand, the dobe was his rival, _Uchiha Sasuke_'s rival, so _of course_ he should be strong and enormous chakra reserves were obviously a part of that. On the other hand, it was _Naruto_ and he couldn't help but hate that the _dead-last _was better than him in some way, any way.

"We won't try." Kasumi promised quietly, and there was a note of finality in her voice that no one dared to question. Kakashi eye-smiled and turned back to his book while Naruto and Sasuke, both silent for once, mulled over what they had learned.

The rest of the mission passed without incident, although Kasumi made a firm note to herself to do something about the animosity still boiling beneath the surface between Naruto and Sasuke.

**Limits**

"Alright," She said that afternoon as they gathered in their usual training field, "our rules need to change."

"Neh, Kasumi-chan, why?" Naruto asked, absently picking at the grass.

"Sasuke-san's two-tomoe Sharingan, my awakened bloodline, your shadowed clones." Kasumi listed crisply.

"You never did tell us about your bloodline," Sasuke reminded her, chin rested on his fist.

"Ah, yes." She paused, considered what little she knew about her bloodline.

Kasumi had been young, painfully young, when everything had gone to pieces, and even before then, her parents had tried to keep her in the dark about her bloodline; trying to protect her from the malevolence brewing in Kirigakure, she assumed.

That was all good and well, and she appreciated what they had done, but the downside was that she knew precious little about her kekkei genkai. Taishi-onii-sama had been... preoccupied in the few years he had been a ninja in her life, and Hiroshi-onii-san focused more on ninjutsu and taijutsu than their bloodline.

Which meant that Kasumi was rather on her own with this. She wondered if this was how her teammates felt about their own special abilities.

"It's called the Tentaiora." She said softly, aware of both Sasuke and Naruto's absolute, curious attention. "The Celestial Aura. The Tentaiora... it's a very obscure kekkei genkai. I don't think even my own clan knew everything about it; it would manifest a little differently in each individual."

"It's not a dojutsu, like the Sharingan or the Byakugan. The Tentaiora is a... type of chakra, I suppose, that's different from regular chakra. It's..." Kasumi struggled for a word to describe what she had always instinctively known, "foreign. Not entirely of this world. What this means for me is that I have a strong intuition.

"In-tu-ition...?" Naruto frowned, tipped his head to the side.

"It's a bit like instinct." She explained patiently. "Like, in battle, where you sort of know what your enemy is going to do next even though there's no logic to it."

"Oh. Okay." Naruto nodded, getting the feeling that she was talking about. He thought it was probably like when he was fighting the teme and he knew that Sasuke was going to punch with his right hand five seconds before he actually did it.

"I have a sense for danger, you could say." Kasumi went on, striving to find a way for her teammates to understand what was as natural to her for breathing. "Sometimes, I might get an impression of what'll happen in the near future."

"How specific is this?" Sasuke questioned, thinking back to the Wave mission. She had been so unnaturally twitchy at the beginning, and he guessed now he knew why. The Uchiha genius could see why such a bloodline could be useful, but it was evident that currently, Kasumi wasn't entirely familiar with the ability.

She bit her lip, shuffling through her memories. "It depends." She said at last. "My bloodline is normally always active, unless I intentionally suppress it. But most of the time, it's faint, vague. Just a hazy feeling that something is going to go wrong."

"Most of the time?" He prompted.

"I can tap into the Tentaiora at will." Kasumi admitted, recalling that fraction of time when she'd thought Zabuza would kill her. She _could_ utilize that alien knowledge, but..."It's dangerous, though."

"Dangerous?" Sasuke frowned.

"There are certain risks." She said softly. "If I go too far... my existence could be altered permanently.

"You should be careful, Kasumi-chan!" Naruto piped up and, surprised, she blinked, considered the blonde. He was grinning at her, as bright and sunny as usual, but she caught a whisper of darkness in his cerulean eyes and she thought, yes, Naruto would know what the price of power is.

"I will." She said, and decided it was time to steer this conversation back on track. "I need to practice using my Tentaiora. Sasuke-san, you need to practice your Sharingan. Naruto-san, you need to practice using Shadow Clones to their full potential."

"Then let's do it!" Naruto pumped a fist into the air, thrumming with energy.

"Hn." Somehow, she wasn't surprised when Sasuke agreed with Naruto for the first time today. The boys, if anything, had always sided against her cautiousness with their eagerness.

The kunoichi was silent for a moment, sorting through her thoughts. "But we can't push ourselves too much."

"We'll be fine, Kasumi-chan!" Naruto gave her a thumbs-up, filled with faith, and she sighed, smiling fondly. Kasumi couldn't match her blonde teammate's utter confidence, but then again, she was the one who kept everyone from jumping too fast, too soon.

"Still. We'll alternate." She determined finally. "Two days normal and then one day all out."

"But Kasumi-chan! That'll be boring!" Naruto whined childishly. He wanted to get stronger and stronger, damn it!

"Hn. We could be wasting training time." Sasuke stuck his two-cents in. He needed to get stronger and beat That Man.

Kasumi sweatdropped. Why was it that the only time those two agreed with each other was when they were trying to gang up on her when it came to training? "Overtaxing ourselves won't get us anywhere." She said sternly.

"But - !" Naruto was stubborn.

But, in this matter, Kasumi was even more stubborn. "No. Chakra exhaustion is a nasty condition and can land you in the hospital for _days_. Do you really want to be out for days?!" She focused a steely look on Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto squirmed nervously and glanced down, tearing some of the more poor grass into pieces. "No..." He trailed off, pouting.

"Hn." Sasuke glanced away from her gaze after a few seconds, looking somewhere over her shoulder. "It'll be more productive." He argued in an attempt to deny defeat.

She could only sigh at the pure idiocy of male pride. "In the short run, maybe. But not in the long run, and we're looking at the long run here."

Kasumi got no response as the boys sulked. Oh wait, no, that wasn't right; Sasuke was manfully brooding, and Naruto was dreaming wistfully of the Hokage's hat. And delicious ramen.

She restrained the urge to roll her eyes. My, it was as if Kami-sama had decided that today was the day to test her patience. "Alright." She clapped her hands lightly and glanced at the setting sun. They had one... maybe two more hours left. "Now that we've established that..."

Her sweet smile turned a tad vindictive, to the boys' alarm. Reaching into her shinobi pouch, she withdrew her hand, revealing four very sharp senbon. "Let's do some training."

And to Naruto and Sasuke's horror, her aim had certainly gotten better.

**Garbage**

"..." Kakashi sweatdropped as he eyed the trio of genin calmly eating Ichiraku Ramen. "Maa, maa, aren't you little ducklings supposed to be going around collecting trash?"

"Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei." Kasumi looked up to offer him a pleasant smile that Kakashi didn't trust in the least. "The trash is getting picked up."

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto grinned at their sensei through a mouthful ramen. "We're almost done, too!"

"Hn." Sasuke smirked smugly, plainly gleeful that he was skipping on his D-rank.

Kakashi straightened up and made a show of looking around. He spotted... orange. And... orange. And... some more orange. "Cheating with shadow clones, I see."

"Not _cheating_." Kasumi denied mildly. "Simply making use of our resources. Naruto-san, chew and swallow with your mouth closed, please."

Naruto obediently snapped his mouth shut and started to properly digest his food, while Sasuke looked blandly disgusted. Kakashi could only shrug and plop himself down beside his team, whipping out his beloved Icha Icha.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto leapt up and pointed an accusing finger at him, swallowing down his food at a sharp glance from Kasumi. "How could you read your blasted porn in such a sacred place of ramen?!"

"Hn. 'Sacred place of ramen'?" Sasuke deadpanned mockingly.

Predictably, Naruto fired up. "Shut up, teme! I wouldn't expect _you_ to understand the greatness of ramen!"

"I wouldn't want to, dobe."

"I said shut up, teme!"

"You shut up, dead-last!"

"What did you say?!"

Sitting right smack in the middle of the epic battle going on above her ahead, Kasumi peacefully placed her chopsticks on her bowl of ramen. Slipping out two senbon, she idly threw them over her shoulder.

Two thumps promptly followed, and the kunoichi serenely picked up her chopsticks once more and returned to finishing her meal, pointedly ignoring the twitching bodies on the floor.

Those books that Sakura had ever-so-graciously lent her really were quite useful.

To her far right, Kakashi-sensei covered up a snicker. Whether it was at his male students' misfortune or at his orange book, Kasumi had no idea, and she had no desire to know either.

* * *

_Next time:_

_"My brother wants to have dinner with my team." She repeated patiently._

* * *

**Me: Okay, so sorta filler chapter. But, hey, things get explained! A little. Meh, things needed to be worked out. My lovely reviews!~**

**Anime hotty lover. 18: Yup, Sakura's a medic apprentice now! I couldn't just leave her out. :D. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Shinan7: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Rosy Fire: Well, she was a part of the original Rookie Nine so I would have felt a bit guilty at just booting her out of the story. Bloodline sorta explained in this chapter? Thanks for your review, sweetie!**

**TamashinoSuzume: Hmm... maybe... maybe not. :3 Lolz, guess you'll have to wait and see! Thanks for the review!**

**TheQueenofGoodbyes: I'm so glad! Ah, I searched up those two songs and I loved them! Thanks for your suggestions, hun; they're now part of my playlist. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**wookie. cookie: Lolz, yup! Kasumi now has weapons, be very, very afraid, Sasuke, Naruto. Ohh, thank you! *blushes* I'll do my best!**

**Thoroughly Misguided: Ah... I love that song! Pft, sounds about right! Never heard of it described that way... hmm, I wonder what'll happen if Kasumi ever gets into a fight with a Hyuga that isn't Hinata or Neji? Something to think about. Anyway, thanks for the wonderful review, hun!**

**starrat: Awesome!~ Hope you liked!**

**SleepAroundTheClock: Amy Lee does have an incredible voice. Thanks for the review, darling!**

**rinievermilion: Reading many, many fanfics is always a wonderful thing! Kasumi does have a brother; he's mentioned randomly through this fic. Naruto and Sasuke... well, they never seem to learn. Good thing Kasumi's around! Thanks so much for the review, hun!**

**The Shadow Spectre: Here ya go! I hope you enjoyed!**

**Burned Spy: Gotcha! New chapter, as commanded!**

**1.1: Hmm... maybe? Lolz, that's a long way away. We'll see. ;D**

**Nikita: Oh yes, our favorite bad boy is feeling _something_. That song is beautiful; I'm so happy you introduced me to it! *blushes* All these compliments are going to go to my head! Tsunade... well, we'll see. Thanks for the beautiful review, as always!**

**1XxKiraXx1: Lolz, aren't they good practice dummies? I think this might become a habit for our heroine. It is a nice way to whip her boys into shape, yeah? XD. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Sieban Nightwang: Oh, thank you! Next chapter? Here ya go~ I hope you like it, sweetie!**

**Wren: :O. Oh noes! I do that all the time though, lolz, so I know what it's like. Le gasp! How could I forget about my readers? Blasphemy! Here's your update and thanks for your review, darling! Get some sleep!**

**Suki: Well, we all know how Sasuke can be. But he's in my hands now! *laughs evilly* Ahem. Chunin Exams... oh, they're coming. I'm working on it right now; no worries, it's all coming along great! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**lucidatray7: Oh, I'm so happy you like my story, dear! Is this update fast enough for you? I hope you like it; ah, and thanks so much for the review!**

**Me: Okay! All these great reviews just make my day! Hmm... review and check out my blog?**

**Question: How do you think the meeting between Hiroshi and Team 7 will go?**


	20. Talk

**Me: Naruto does not belong to me!**

* * *

**Meet**

"My brother wants to meet with you guys." Kasumi commented casually after a fierce spar two days later. They were getting better, slowly but surely. She hoped it would be enough.

Meanwhile, Naruto managed to choke on air, and Sasuke whipped around to stare at her with wide eyes.

"_What?!_" They cried in synchronicity. She resisted the urge to shudder. That was really creepy. Apparently Naruto and Sasuke thought so, too, by the disgusted looks they shot each other. Kasumi hid her smile carefully.

"My brother wants to have dinner with my team." She repeated patiently.

Naruto's jaw dropped to the ground and Sasuke scowled, eyes darkening to a black abyss.

"Why?" He snapped, voice cold and cutting. Naruto hauled up his jaw to frown at the Uchiha's tone of voice, said boy promptly ignoring him.

Kasumi raised a pale eyebrow, painstakingly aware of what Sasuke's older brother had done to him when he was only eight years old. "Onii-san is an overprotective seventeen year old jounin." She responded mildly. "Frankly, I'm surprised he has waited this long to demand a visit, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke glowered at her silently and she sighed. It was hard to argue with the Uchiha. Push him too far and he would refuse out of simple pride. Don't push him far enough and he wouldn't bother giving her his attention. It was a delicate balance and she had found she liked trade-offs. It worked.

"One dinner." She bargained. "Tomorrow at six o'clock and if he's satisfied, he won't ask for more."

The dark-haired boy pressed his lips together. He didn't want to meet Kasumi's brother. Hell, he didn't want to meet anyone's brother. Not when his own brother... was That Man. As far as Sasuke could see, there were two options set in front of him. He could go... or he could not go.

If he didn't go, his teammate and her brother would be upset. Unfortunately, he had no doubts that Kasumi could make his life hell if she so chose, judging from her previous acts of retaliation. Her brother was a jounin and could probably do worse, if Kakashi was any sort of example.

If he did go... well, he would be miserable. There was a reason Sasuke had never accepted any of the numerous invitations to have lunch with others; it was too much of a reminder of what he had once had but could never have again. A family.

"Fine." He caved at last, giving his aggravating female teammate a dark glare. "But _only_ this one time."

Kasumi smiled sweetly, a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. Sasuke's glare didn't lessen, not fooled for a second. Had he not agreed, she probably would have just dragged him there by force. Thankfully, most of the time, the petite girl preferred to coax and persuade rather than pummel and lug.

"Naruto-san?" She turned to the sweating blonde.

"We-Well..." He shifted his weight nervously, appearing unusually nervous.

She looked at him closely, eyes thoughtful. Analyzing. "What's wrong?"

"Err..." Naruto bit his lip, cerulean eyes darting here and there but never meeting the eyes of his teammates.

Kasumi waited calmly, not saying word but commanding a response nonetheless. She knew her teammates, knew them well, but she didn't understand why Naruto was so afraid and that irritated her on a personal level. She should be able to know and predict both of her teammates' responses in any given situations. It was important, especially in combat situations, seeing as she was their team's strategist.

Sasuke, quite curious as well, directed his own gaze at the increasingly fidgety blonde. He was fascinated by the practically visible tension Naruto was giving off; he had never seen the knucklehead so... jittery. Normally, Naruto was bold and brash and loud and _orange,_ of all things. He made a mental note to discuss the dobe's terrible wardrobe with Kasumi later. Naruto would probably listen to her best.

"Idon'tknowhowtobehave!" Naruto finally blurted out frantically, all but ringing his hands.

Kasumi blinked. Tried to unscramble that sentence in her mind. "... You don't know how to behave?"

Naruto nodded miserably, scratching his head. "Uhh... yeah. I've never been to one of those fancy dinner parties, so..."

Sasuke smirked. Hey, he had mellowed out, but he was still Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto noticed immediately, dropping his embarrassment for annoyance.

"Shut up, teme." He grumbled.

"I didn't say anything," Sasuke pointed out, smirk never faltering.

"It doesn't matter, Naruto-san." Kasumi stepped in smoothly, hiding her own faint amusement. The second she 'sided' with Sasuke, Naruto would explode and sulk and that would turn into a whole big cluster mess. "Onii-san doesn't care for manners. Be yourself and I'm sure you'll be fine."

Naruto hesitated, but nodded uncertainly, scuffing the ground with his boot in an attempt at distraction.

Kasumi smiled that smile again. The one that threatened something nasty if there were any problems, masterfully covered with generosity and patience. "It's agreed then. Tomorrow at six."

Neither boy dared to disagree.

**Hiroshi**

"Alright." Kasumi steadily led her teammates toward her house, nonchalantly ignoring their increasing anxiety. With Naruto, it was pathetically easy to tell. He was sweating buckets and fidgeting constantly. With Sasuke, it was more subtle, but she could still see it. He wasn't radiating his normal holier-than-thou aura and his steps weren't as assertive as usual.

"Onii-san is a jounin, so don't try to challenge him." Primarily aimed at Sasuke and he knew it, too, brow furrowing slightly.

"No pranking him; he isn't as easygoing as Kakashi." Yes, Naruto, that was for you.

"Ah, and be yourself or he'll arrange another dinner." Both Naruto and Sasuke looked uneasily. She pretended she didn't notice.

"Ne, Kasumi-chan?" Naruto spoke up, voice softer than the norm.

"Yes?" She turned a corner, her teammates following.

"Why isn't Kakashi-sensei here? He's a part of Team 7, too." In fact, Kakashi had no idea they were having a dinner together at all.

A slight smile curved Kasumi's lips. Good. Naruto was learning. He wouldn't have caught on to that little quirk even two weeks ago. "Onii-san is a jounin, Naruto-san. He already knows Kakashi-sensei. He does not know you or Sasuke-san." She replied without missing a beat.

"Ohhh..."

"I assume your brother has the Tentaiora as well?" Sasuke wasn't at all comfortable with his teammate's bloodline. Kasumi was obviously untrained and unfamiliar in its use and yet, her predictions in battle would be unerringly accurate.

It didn't help that she had told them her kekkei genkai was unique to the user, and she wasn't very clear on all of its abilities. Sasuke had no idea what her brother would sense if he turned that bloodline on him and he didn't like that in the slightest.

"Yes." The merest hint of steel in her tone told him not to push it. He didn't.

Finally, several more twists and turns later, they were standing in front of a small, tastefully decorated single home.

"Wow..." Naruto whispered in awe, cerulean blue eyes frantically taking in the pleasing sight. "You live in a pretty house, Kasumi-chan."

Kasumi smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Naruto-san."

"How do you afford all of this?" Sasuke questioned idly, taking in the neatly trimmed lawn, bountiful hydrangeas, and slender willow tree. Middle class, he judged, a high middle class residence. Which was... strange.

As the one in charge of his own money, the Uchiha knew quite a lot more about finances than most other twelve year olds. Kasumi had never mentioned other relatives other than her brother, so he assumed it was just the two of them. And one jounin and one green genin would have trouble affording such a nice home.

Her smile faltered slightly, but her tone was light when she answered, "It's an advantage of being the last remains of a powerful clan with a kekkei genkai. We receive a monthly paycheck from the Hokage and the Council."

Before her teammates could respond to that depressing statement, Kasumi glided across the stone path and procured a key from somewhere on her body. Face falling back into stoic lines, Sasuke joined her, Naruto right behind him. Sliding it easily into the lock, she unlocked the door with a soft click. Stepping in, she beckoned for Sasuke and Naruto to join her. They took in their teammate's home with curious eyes.

The walls were a soothing pale blue, delicate white designs spanning the ceiling. An elaborate mahogany table with a pale green glass bowl of potpourri greeted guests. The whole place smelled like cool linen and warm fires. This, Sasuke realized with an inward start, was why his teammate smelled so good when he was aware she never used lotion or perfume.

Green vines contained in wooden pots entwined around the curling stairs in the dead center of the room, lending the room a small piece of the forest. Hung on the walls were beautiful paintings of meadows and streams and forests. Mixed in between were kanji characters for serenity, duty, and fate.

Sasuke found himself thinking that the house reflected the cream-haired girl quite well. Simple but complicated. Single layered until you looked closer and found yourself trying to see the bottom of the deep ocean. Steady and comforting but with a wild core that refused to be caught.

"Onii-san! Naruto-san and Sasuke-san are here." Kasumi called out into the quiet home.

A split second later, a man appeared in front of the three with a flicker of wicked fast Shunshin, making Sasuke and Naruto stiffen in surprise and instinctive defense. Kasumi didn't even blink, indicating this was a normal state of affairs.

The man that could only be Kasumi's brother was tall with chocolate brown hair and warm brown eyes, dressed in a purple shirt under a jounin vest and black pants. Fit and visibly strong, his jaw was sharp, his eyes cruelly intelligent. Said jounin also gave the two boys standing next to his precious little sister an openly ruthless once-over. To not wilt was all the male genin could do.

"Onii-san." Quiet reproach.

The man narrowed his eyes at Naruto and Sasuke, something dangerous flickering there for a moment. They tensed at the thinly veiled threat despite themselves, but a mere second later, he was grinning cheerfully at them, his face so honest and open that both boys stared, rather confused

"Hi! I'm Hiroshi, Kasumi-chan's older brother. You're her team, yeah? Nice to meet you!"

Sasuke blinked and Naruto's eyes bulged out. The hell? Talk about bipolar! With Sasuke mostly antisocial and Naruto thrown off, they scrambled for a response, the silence stretching out uncomfortably.

Kasumi sighed, taking over the introductions effortlessly before things worsened, "This is Uchiha Sasuke. And this is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Excellent!" Hiroshi's grin widened as if the two boys hadn't just made fools of themselves. "Come on in! Dinner's ready!"

Great. A few more hours eating with a jounin who was clearly unimpressed with them and someone they most certainly could not piss off.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances, for once in complete accord with each other. They were so screwed.

**Dinner**

"How are the potatoes? More salt?" Hiroshi asked politely.

Sasuke hurriedly stuffed his mouth full with tomatoes and Naruto wiggled awkwardly in his seat.

The dining room was very nice. Painted a pale green, small lamps provided an ambient atmosphere. The table was covered with a luxurious red cloth and fascinating paintings were hung on the walls. The table was covered with a variety of delicious dishes on simple white plates and a bundle of lilies served as the centerpiece.

Very, very nice. But neither Sasuke nor Naruto could enjoy the meal or the settings because sitting at the head of the table was one jounin intent on making them feel as nervous as possible without actually saying or doing anything wrong.

"N-No. They're good." Naruto was proud of himself for only stuttering once, beads of sweat dripping down his neck.

"You did a good job on the fish, Onii-san." Kasumi commented before the silence could become too strained. Again.

Hiroshi beamed at her. "Aww! Thank you, Kasumi-chan!"

Sasuke got the strong feeling that the only reason Hiroshi hadn't filleted him and the dobe for the next meal was because of their female teammate, who had somehow managed to keep the peace _and_ her patience, a truly impressive feat.

"So... Naruko-chan was it?" Hiroshi said offhandedly.

Naruto almost choked on his rice. "Umm, actually, it's Naruto."

"Yeah! So Naruko-chan, what's your dream in life?" His grin never faltered.

Naruto's eye twitched, but he kept his cool. Mostly because Kasumi-chan's brother was scary as hell. "I want to be Hokage!"

"Hokage, huh?" His smile became slightly mocking, but he turned to Sasuke. "And you, Sasu-chan?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but kept a hold of himself, voice coming out icy cold, "I will take vengeance for my clan."

Hiroshi froze, his smile dropping like a stone. The mask of cheerfulness and welcome broke in a millisecond and he stared at Sasuke, eyes suddenly dark and penetrating, jaw clenching so tight it had to have hurt. His gaze abruptly flickered to his sister, who sat next to him.

Kasumi's face was utterly blank and she stared into her bowl as if it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen. To anyone else, she looked disinterested, detached from the conversation. Her brother knew better, knew that this blow was unforgivable in so many ways.

Confused, Naruto and Sasuke looked back and forth between the two siblings. They could tell something was wrong, could guess that something about Sasuke's goal had struck a sore point, but they didn't know anything more.

Kasumi adamantly refused to meet her brother's gaze and after a moment, Hiroshi looked back at Sasuke, his face nonchalant once more. "Vengeance is a heavy goal to have."

"It's my burden to bear." He replied, eyes tight.

Hiroshi merely smirked mockingly and said nothing more on that topic.

**Evil**

"I'm going to go check on the herb garden." Kasumi said suddenly an hour later. She rose to her feet in a smooth move, placed a hand on her hip.

Naruto went pale as a sheet. Sasuke had more composure than that, but on the inside, he was just as panicked. She couldn't just leave them with her murderous brother!

The three genin and the jounin had relocated to the living room after the tension filled lunch. It was as beautiful as the rest of the house: the walls a generous pale cream and the sofas soft and comforting. Pillows and luxurious throws were scattered across the room and some small desserts were on the small chestnut table in the middle of the room. Not that any of the occupants really cared at the moment.

Before they could say a word, Hiroshi said, "That's a great idea, Kasumi-chan! I'll look after your teammates for you!"

If it was possible, Naruto became even more frightened. Nooooo! She couldn't do this to them!

Kasumi gave her brother a thoroughly dry look. "Of course you will, Onii-san. I expect Naruto-san and Sasuke-san to still be alive and well when I come back."

And with that she walked out the door and left her teammates with her evil older brother.

Naruto and Sasuke were horrified. Rightly so.

A minute after Kasumi left, Hiroshi took out the kunai.

"Now then," He told them merrily, the look in his eyes pure menace. "Let's talk."

Sasuke discreetly took in a deep breath and Naruto loudly gulped.

**Talk**

"What do you boys think you're doing with my little sister, hmm?" Hiroshi tossed the lethally sharp kunai between his hands absently.

Naruto frowned, brow furrowing. "Kasumi-chan's our teammate."

Hiroshi scoffed. "Teammate? Neither of you even knows what teammate _means_. You're just children."

"We're not kids!" Naruto protested vehemently.

"And nonetheless, Kasumi is our teammate." Sasuke added, jaw clenched.

The jounin smirked, all cutting edges and scorn. "And so what? You two are deplorably weak. In a real fight, neither of you would be able to protect my sister."

"That's not true!" Naruto screamed, jumping to his feet, anger overriding his fear and common sense.

Not that Sasuke was much better. The Uchiha glared daggers at the much older and much more experienced man. How _dare_ he outright state that Sasuke wasn't capable enough to protect his own teammate?! Who did he think Uchiha Sasuke was?! Sasuke was more than strong enough to protect Kasumi in a fight, damn it!

Hiroshi snorted. "Open your eyes, kid. You'll never be Hokage. You aren't nearly strong enough to protect my precious little sister. You're naive and slow and hopelessly powerless."

"Yo-You..!" For once, Naruto was actually speechless with anger. Worried, Sasuke shoved an arm before the dobe. They couldn't do anything stupid, not to this man.

Hiroshi looked over Naruto and Sasuke, nodding to himself. "Yes, you guys aren't nearly sufficient enough. I'll ask Hokage-sama to place Kasumi-chan in another team tomorrow."

That was it. The breaking point.

Naruto forgot all sense of restraint and lunged at Hiroshi with a loud cry. This time, Sasuke was too outraged to hold him back. If fact, he was right behind the blonde, those hours of training together as a team that Kasumi had enforced with an iron fist punching to the forefront.

Raising an arrogant eyebrow, Hiroshi casually sidestepped Naruto's punch and grabbed his wrist with ease, twisting sharply. A light flick of his hand and he sent the Uzumaki flying back to crash into a conveniently placed sofa with a loud "oomph". The blonde laid there motionlessly, stunned for a moment.

Weaving under Sasuke's kick, he hit him square in the solar plexus in a move too fast for even the Uchiha's activated Sharingan to see. Sasuke gasped, bending over in an automatic reaction to catch his breath. While he was breathless, Hiroshi caught the back of his neck and slammed him into the carpet.

"Bastard!" Naruto yelled at him, scrambling to his feet. Before Naruto could charge at the brown-haired man again, Hiroshi placed his foot on Sasuke's back to the raven-head's discomfort and placed the kunai at his neck.

Naruto froze, face paling. What was he supposed to do?! He didn't know how to react in a situation like this! He needed a plan, but Kasumi was always the one who came up with the plans! But Kasumi-chan wasn't here, so what was he supposed to do?!

"Well?" Hiroshi taunted, eyes cold and merciless. "What will you do now, Naruko-chan?"

The blonde gulped harshly. "Let Sasuke go." He said, proud that his voice, at least, came out steady if a little small.

Hiroshi smirked, coolly amused. "No, I don't think I will. In fact, how's this?" He pressed the kunai closer against Sasuke's neck, and the Uchiha grimaced, furious but helpless to do anything about it. "Agree to let Kasumi-chan go and enter another group, or I'll kill Sasu-chan."

Sasuke tensed, his still active Sharingan starting to spin in pure, unadulterated anger. What the fucking hell?! Who the fuck did this guy think he was?! What gave him the right to try and take away _his_ teammate? Kasumi was their _teammate_ and as far as Sasuke was concerned, that was the end of it!

Naruto was torn between being enraged, terrified, and petrified. How, _how_ could he choose between Sasuke and Kasumi?! How could he do it? They were _both_ his teammates and damn it, he didn't know what to do! Sasuke was his rival and his friend, but Kasumi was the glue that held them all together. How the hell was he supposed to choose?!

"How about it, _Future Hokage_?" Hiroshi scorned, chuckling sinisterly. "Where's your ambition now?"

Naruto visibly hesitated, futile panic painted all over his face. Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who made the decision for him.

"Stop looking like someone just pushed you off a cliff, dobe." He managed to grit out despite his face being pressed against the carpet. He deactivated the Sharingan to throw a smug smirk at his teammate. "Kasumi stays on our team."

Hiroshi narrowed his eyes, increasing the force against Sasuke's face. Sasuke grunted, grimacing as he was forced deeper into the carpet. "False bravo won't get you anywhere, Sasu-chan. Kasumi-chan or Sasu-chan? Choose, Naruko-chan."

Naruto took in a deep breath, hands tightly fisted. He met Sasuke's coal black eyes.

"Now!" Hiroshi dug the kunai against Sasuke's pale skin, but not hard enough to break it.

Sasuke gave the blonde a small nod and Naruto nodded back. He looked back at Hiroshi, a new, resolute conviction on his face. "Neither!" He declared confidently.

Hiroshi blinked. "Neither?" He repeated incredulously.

Naruto glared at him, cerulean blue eyes burning with a harsh inner flame. "Neither! Both teme and Kasumi-chan are my teammates and I'm not losing them!"

The older man's face went oddly unreadable, the disdain and mockery falling from his face. He had done it before, Naruto realized, when Sasuke was talking about his ambition. It was rather eerie, how easily Hiroshi showed and then discarded emotions.

"Oh?" Hiroshi looked down at his hostage. "And do you agree, Sasu-chan?" He let some more of his weight settle on the boy and saw him bite his lip to trap the cry of pain. But Sasuke didn't break.

"Of course." Sasuke said, eyes coldly contemptuous. "Kasumi is _our_ teammate."

The jounin began to smile to the boys' surprise. "And will you stand by that decision even if Sasu-chan is killed?" He pressed the kunai even harder against his neck, but still didn't draw blood.

"**Yes.**" Naruto and Sasuke stated in unison, the looks in their eyes equally as certain and challenging. There was no hesitation in their eyes, their hearts... and that was enough.

Hiroshi grinned widely and in a smooth movement put away his kunai, took his foot off of Sasuke and threw the boy at a sofa casually.

Sasuke's breath exploded out of him at the impact, but not letting himself think of the pain, he got to his feet and moved to stand next to Naruto.

Hiroshi eyed the two very determined genin confronting him so seriously with twinkling brown eyes. Laughing to himself, he relaxed deliberately and languidly draped himself over a nearby couch. "You can stop that now."

Naruto frowned. "What are you talking about?!" Sasuke mirrored his bewilderment though not nearly as obviously.

The man smiled at them. "Don't worry. I have no intention of taking Kasumi-chan away from you anymore."

Naruto's jaw dropped, his cerulean blue eyes widening. "Ehhh?"

Sasuke furrowed his brow, his mind racing through the event that had just happened... to come to one single conclusion that made him feel like someone had told him grass was actually red. In other words, blind denial. "It was a _test?"_

Naruto turned towards his rival, face showing plain incomprehension. "What are you talking about, teme?!"

"Sasu-chan is right." Hiroshi told them indifferently. "I did that only because I wanted to test how devoted you two are to my precious little sister."

The Uzumaki snapped his head toward the jounin to stare in flagrant disbelief. "You put a kunai to teme's neck!"

Hiroshi shrugged gracefully. "Extreme times call for extreme measures."

Shaking his head in shock, Naruto groaned and dropped back to crash on the sofa. Gingerly, Sasuke sat down as well, but kept a close eye on the seemingly friendly man. He didn't trust the complete no-harm aura Hiroshi was radiating out at the moment. He had just seen, first-hand, how deadly the jounin could be, and he trained with Kasumi, damn it. She did the same thing right before she kicked a guy where it hurt.

"Why?" Naruto demanded, fresh anger starting to bubble under his skin.

Hiroshi quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Why?!" Naruto was reaching the end of his patience. Who did this guy think he was? He didn't care if this was Kasumi-chan's brother! He was a bigger bastard than teme could be!

The jounin smiled, eyes dancing. "Because I wanted to see if you guys were worthy of Kasumi-chan of course. You guys have already fought against one A-rank ninja and almost died together. If that didn't form a strong bond, nothing will."

Sasuke pressed his lips together. "This was never about whether or not we could protect her."

"Nope!" Hiroshi leaned forward and snatched a brownie off the plate. "This was about loyalty. Power and strength anyone can have, but loyalty... loyalty is rare and precious."

He directed a solid stare at Sasuke. "I wanted to know that if the chance came down between power and your team, there was a chance you would choose your team."

Sasuke resisted the urge to squirm even as he wondered at that choice. Weeks ago, he would have chosen power without a second thought. Now though... what would he do now?

Hiroshi turned to stare at Naruto. "And I wanted to know if you would ever sacrifice your team for your ambition to be Hokage."

Naruto scowled. "I would never do that!" He declared, slashing a hand through the air. "Never!"

Hiroshi smiled, carefree and approving. "Yup! And that's why I'm letting Kasumi-chan stay on your team."

He paused and threw a nervous glance at the closed door. "Ah. But don't tell her about this, got it?"

Sasuke blinked. Was... Hiroshi afraid of his little sister's wrath? A corner of his lip tugged up. Kasumi sure was something. "Why not? You did throw us around." He pointed out with ill-hidden glee.

Hiroshi directed an amused look at the Uchiha. "Sure, you could tell her. But this was a fight between men, yeah? You guys can understand why I did what I did. She can't. Probably get all pissy, too."

To their disgruntlement, Naruto and Sasuke got what he was talking about. They _could_ understand why Hiroshi had done what he had. He had been protecting his beloved little sister and in his position, they probably would have done the same.

"Fine." Naruto grumbled. He shot one last glare at the jounin and pointed a rude finger at him. "But do that again and we'll kick your ass, got it?!"

The brown-haired man held out his hands in front of him in peace gesture with a small smile. "Hai, hai."

At that moment, the door opened and Kasumi stepped back into the room. She drew a careful look over the room and her eyes instantly locked on several discrepancies. One were the pillows scattered on the ground. Then there was the dubious Sasuke-shaped imprint on the carpet. And the red mark on said boy's neck.

"Kasumi-chan! How's the garden?" Her brother smiled innocently at her, and she noted with some interest that Naruto seemed to be finding the ceiling very interesting and Sasuke seemed to really like the pattern on the rug.

"It's growing nicely." She replied mildly, walking over to sit on a spare couch. "I see everyone here remains alive."

"Hahahahah... yeah..." Naruto laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Kasumi absently thought to herself that she needed to teach the boy how to lie better, hiding her amusement with long time practice.

"I see." She said simply and let it go. For now.

**Carrots**

To both Naruto and Sasuke's surprise, after the fight with Hiroshi, they genuinely enjoyed the rest of the evening. He was remarkably easy to like when he wasn't trying to intimidate the hell out of you.

The jounin had a dry sense of humor and a mischievous streak that Naruto quickly grew to like. They spent a good half an hour talking about pranks that they had performed, as well as laughing over future ideas and how best they could destroy Konoha's peace and quiet.

Sasuke spent the time playing a quiet game of shogi with Kasumi. By the time the boys had to leave - "So, Kasumi-chan can get her beauty sleep!" - Kasumi had already won three times. Sasuke may have been a combat genius, but she was the strategist of their team for a reason.

"We're going shopping." Kasumi announced one day later, after they had completed that day's quota for training.

Naruto blinked at her and Sasuke raised a disdainful eyebrow. She ignored both, starting to walk off in the direction of the market.

"... Shopping? Why?" Naruto asked after a moment's pause. Kasumi could be remarkably vengeful when it came down to it, but, up to today, she hadn't ever chosen _shopping_ as her method of punishment.

She stopped and turned her head back to smile pleasantly at him. "Why, because it's my turn to make the meals this week for Onii-san and myself."

Sasuke gave her a blank look that questioned her sanity. "... And?"

"Aaand, it just so happens that it's carrot season." Kasumi said, chocolate brown eyes deceptively innocent.

"... But what do carrots have to do with anything?" Naruto asked, thoroughly confused now.

She gave him a rather exasperated look. "Naruto-san, do you _really_ think I have no idea what happened during the time I was gone?"

Naruto's mouth formed a small "O" and Sasuke decided to start plucking random weeds out of the ground.

Kasumi smiled, slow and knowing, but all she did was offer, "Onii-san really does hate carrots."

It was the first time Naruto and Sasuke ever remembered being _excited _to go shopping.

* * *

_Next time:_

_Perhaps that was a bit extreme for the situation, but Kasumi was not going to let this blind, prejudiced old man hurt her teammate like this. Regardless, just that hint of a threat was enough to get him sweating, face paling._

* * *

**Me: So... that was bound to happen eventually. Brother instinct and all. All my lovely reviews!~**

**PAVeY14: Lolz, Kakashi does know Kasumi has an older brother, he just rarely actually talks to Hiroshi. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**starrat: Great! Here ya go, hope you like it!~**

**Anber: That's wonderful, darling! I've so happy you like my story! Lolz, here's your update! Thanks for the lovely review!**

**wookiee. cookie. : Yup! Kasumi's bloodline is a work in progress! No worries, they healed up nicely. ;D, thanks for the review, hun!**

**rinievermilion: Lolz, I think you hit it dead on! Well, I don't think we've gotten to the accidentally touching part since they're only 12 or so, but he certainly did threaten them. Thanks for the review, dear!**

**Anime hotty lover. 18: Hmm... it was very interesting. Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it! Ah, and thanks for the review!~**

**Rosy Fire: :o. I never thought about using it for the lottery! Huh, wonder what happens if Tsunade ever finds out... ideas, ideas. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**hentai18ancilla: Lolz, you got it! Thanks for the review!**

**ShikiUploadz: Why, of course. To the mother hen part. Siscon... err, not reallly... thanks for the review!**

**Arcana The Wolf: :P. Maybe. Traumatic events and all. Lolz, I think that'll happen after the time skip. In which they are 14 or 15, not 12 year olds. Thanks for the suggestion and the lovely review though!**

**Nikita: I loved it! Hmm... I'm overjoyed that you have such beautiful wishes for Team 7. This is, sad as it, a terrible slow burn story, but I assure you, they'll get their time together. It's great that you liked the last chapter, it was meant as a sort of buffer between the drama of the Wave Arc and the Chunin Exams. Hiroshi... well, his approval came in time. XD, thanks for the delightful review as always, hun!**

**the shadow of nature: Patience, patience! Everything will progress as it should... thanks for the review, sweetie!**

**GlaresThatKill: Yup, that sounds about right! Nah, it was 100%, ;P. Sasuke's emo-ness is near legendary at this point, lolz. Thanks for the review!**

**MoonLily22: Well, Naruto and Hiroshi did fight, but Sasuke joined in. Ah, and Kasumi just let the boys to it, lolz. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**TheQueenofGoodbyes: Kasumi was smart, as usual, she escaped before the chaos could rage. Hiroshi and Kakashi... that may come later. Here's your update, thanks so much for the review!**

**Yuukiko: Oh, I'm so happy you think so! Ah, I always go on those binge reads at night, too. XD. Yes, Hiroshi was very, very overprotective, but it appears the boys settled their differences. Thanks for your lovely review, hun!**

**Me: All these beautiful reviews! You all should give me some more, ;P. Please check out my blog, massive thanks goes to my amazing beta, and review!~**


	21. Orange

**Me: I do not own Naruto~**

* * *

**Prejudice**

"Kasumi-chan!" Naruto whined, digging his heels into the ground desperately. "This isn't necessary, I swear!"

Kasumi frowned at her blonde teammate, dragging him behind her with both hands gripping his left hand. Naruto was being stubborn, but Kasumi could be stubborn, too. "Of course it is," She said, exasperated. "We've been over this. Your current attire isn't at all suitable for a ninja!"

Contrary to popular expectations, being a ninja didn't always mean being able to hide in the shadows. That was normally left for infiltration missions or Anbu. The majority of shinobi, especially genin and chunin, were expected to be able to blend seamlessly into civilian crowds.

Kasumi, being endlessly pragmatic, had decided to do both, hence her casual outfit that just so happened to possess green, a key trait to blending in in the forests around Konohagakure, and black, a key trait for blending in anywhere else.

Sasuke, being arrogant and also intelligent, had chosen to do the former of the two, with sides of the latter. His attire was casual, trendy enough that no one would give it a second glance, and the blue was deep enough that it wasn't particularly conspicuous.

On the other hand, Naruto's outfit did _neither_ of the two. It was true that the blonde had spectacular stealth skills, but that amount of orange seriously had to go before they ended up with the need to hide and his jumpsuit screamed 'here I am; come and kill us!'.

"There's nothing wrong with my jumpsuit!" Naruto insisted stringently, eyeing the approaching clothing store with horror. "It's awesome!"

Kasumi sighed and glanced over at her current ally. "Sasuke-san." Her strength was growing, but she'd rather not lug Naruto all the way to the store on her own.

"Hn." Sasuke grabbed Naruto's other arm, to the blonde's dismay, and began to tow him over to the nightmarish location. If there was anything that Kasumi and Sasuke agreed on, it was that Naruto's wardrobe needed to be changed.

"NOOO!" Naruto howled, kicking his legs and flailing as his teammates bodily _hauled _him over to the shop. This only ended up with him on his front, being yanked over the rough road. Both Kasumi and Sasuke ignored his squeals for them to let him _go_, and don't they dare touch his precious jumpsuit, and - ow! - the road was rough so they should really let him go!

They also paid no attention to the strange looks they were getting from everyone on the street who had looked over to try and determine what the loud yelling was all about. Well, Sasuke ignored the civilians with his customary haughty coldness, and Kasumi simply offered them a kind smile and went on her way.

"Right. Here we are." Halting in front of the ninja clothing store, Kasumi breathed a sigh of relief and let Naruto go at last, tucking a strand of platinum hair behind her ear. Sasuke carelessly dropped his part of the load, leading to Naruto collapsing face first in the middle of the road.

Shaking her head, Kasumi bent down and helped Naruto to his feet, raising an eyebrow at the pout firmly situated on the blonde's face. "Stop that, Naruto-san. I won't take away all of your orange, I promise." It _was_ his signature look; she just needed to lessen the ratio of orange to everything else.

Naruto instantly brightened, while Sasuke gave her a look that clearly questioned her sanity. "Really, Kasumi-chan?!"

"Really." She said flatly and turned to walk into the store. "Come along now, and _don't_ try to run away."

Naruto winced, immediately confirming her suspicion that he had been about to do just that. "But, Kasumi-chan... I really don't like this place."

Kasumi paused, frowning at the pain buried in her teammate's voice and the fall of his shoulders. She thought back to how she had first met Naruto four years ago and had the sudden notion that it wasn't that Naruto didn't like this place. It was this place that didn't like Naruto.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto-san." She smiled comfortingly, taking hold of his hand to his widened eyes. "Nothing bad will happen."

"But..." Indecision glimmered in cerulean eyes and Sasuke grunted, shoving Naruto lightly from his right. The Uchiha might not have the depth of knowledge that Kasumi had, but he knew Naruto about as well as she did, and that meant he was nowhere near oblivious to his struggles.

"Stop being stupid, dobe." He said bluntly. "You'll be fine."

... Which was about as close to reassurance as the Ice Prince could get.

"Shut up, teme! I'm not being stupid!" Naruto retorted, but he had relaxed and something like his usual grin was on his lips. He took a breath and faced the store, hand tightening on Kasumi's for a second. "Okay. I'm ready."

He sounded more like he was charging into a war rather than going shopping for clothes, she thought with an amused smile, but she would take it. "Alright. Come on." She didn't let go of Naruto's hand, but tugged lightly as she walked forward with smooth, graceful steps. Sasuke walked beside her, while Naruto followed them, hesitant but consenting.

A bell rang as Sasuke pushed open the door and held it open for them. She directed a grateful smile at him, and Naruto grumbled something about arrogant bastards, to Sasuke's smirk. The owner, a grey-haired old man with a friendly smile, came to greet them.

"Ah, welcome to Hotaru's Outfits! What can I do for... you...?" He trailed off abruptly as he caught sight of Naruto, and without warning, his formerly warm expression hardened. "I'm sorry, but that... boy cannot shop here. Please leave at -"

He cut himself off at Kasumi's frosty smile. Her brown eyes darkening to cold sienna - because she had felt Naruto's flinch backwards, and this was her teammate, and _who_ did this man think he was?! - she said, "Excuse me, but perhaps you might wish to reconsider."

Polite, civilized words, but she caught his eye and soundlessly reminded him that she was a _kunoichi,_ and here, there was only Naruto and Sasuke. The boy he had just insulted and hurt, and the teammate of said boy whose eyes glimmered cold obsidian.

And in her eyes was the knowledge that if he were to suffer a mysterious death, then there would be nobody who would bother to testify that he hadn't, in fact, tried to attack the trio of genin with a rusty pair of scissors, and they had had no choice but to kill him in self-defense.

Perhaps that was a bit extreme for the situation, but Kasumi was not going to let this blind, prejudiced old man hurt her teammate like this. Regardless, just that hint of a threat was enough to get him sweating, face paling.

The owner gulped hard, and glanced frightfully at the Uchiha Heir. He had once been a part of the Konoha Military Police Force, surely he would...! But, no, the last Uchiha gazed back at him with clear disdain and arrogant disinterest with the merest touch of anger. To this boy, he was nothing less than an ant that he hadn't decided whether or not to crush.

The old man's shoulders fell, and he had no choice back to look back at the innocent-looking girl with the cordial smile and alarming eyes. "A-Ah. You're right, of course, Miss. Feel free to browse my shop."

Kasumi's smile widened, "Perfect. I'm so happy we were able to come to an agreement." She inclined her head in 'respect' and 'gratitude', and proceeded to drag a frozen Naruto deeper in the store.

Sasuke followed his teammates, hands in his pockets, but not before he flicked a single, telling look at the pale store owner. He wasn't quite sure what had just happened, but he did know that this moron had ridiculed and hurt _his_ teammate, and Sasuke wasn't about to stand for that.

The old man paled another shade and took a step back, terrified eyes wide, but Sasuke had already turned his back, dismissing him effortlessly in favor of finding his team.

**Orange**

"K-Kasumi-chan..." Naruto really wasn't sure what to say. No one had _ever_ done something like that for him... he had always been alone in facing the glares and the abuse and the blame. "I-I... you didn't have to do that for me."

But, oh, Naruto couldn't help but be overjoyed that she had. Even the teme had showed his support, albeit in a silent way, but Naruto had never truly had... _anything_, anything at all, like that. He felt like jumping out of his skin with delight.

The look the kunoichi saw fit to toss him a look that was equal parts affectionately indulgent and exasperatingly scolding. "Don't be ridiculous, Naruto-san. I _wanted_ to do that for you." She said without hesitating, and this time, he couldn't help the wide grin that broke over his face.

Before he could respond -and he didn't really know how to respond to such an overwhelming statement, to be completely honest - Kasumi switched gears with ease. "Now, do you know what size you are?"

"Uh... umm..." Naruto scratched the back of his sheepishly. He had never had any real reason to find out; it wasn't like he ever actually went shopping. "Small... maybe?"

"Hn." Sasuke announced his presence, strolling up to them all cool-like, smirking condescendingly, "Dobe."

Naruto scowled darkly, "Teme!"

"Dead-last."

"Bastard!"

"Loser."

"Assho -"

"Boys!" Kasumi cut in sharply, hands on hips, and uh-oh, Naruto knew that look of 'you-are-going-to-pay-for-slowly-leaching-away-my-sanity-and-patience-later'. He shuffled backward, shoulders hunched, and kept a careful eye for pointy senbon. Off to the side, Sasuke scoffed and turned his head, but shut his mouth, and that was what pretty much counted as capitulation from the teme.

She ran a critical eye over Naruto, who felt like squirming. "Small, definitely." She muttered, already glancing around at all of the racks of clothing that surrounded them. "Hmm... you two sit over there and no arguing please." She requested absently, gesturing to a nearby bench.

Naruto didn't feel like having to endure the damn teme for much longer, but his vibrant dislike for shopping won over. Grumbling to himself, he plopped himself down on the bench, and to his surprise, the teme actually walked over and sat next to him. Granted, it was with his arms crossed, but still.

Hey... maybe the teme hated shopping as much as he did? But... that would mean Naruto had something in common with _Sasuke_. Naruto thought about that for a moment, before shuddering violently. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, go away.

Returning his attention to Kasumi, a nice, safe topic, Naruto's mouth fell open, his eyes budging out. His female teammate was flipping through the racks of clothing with a speed and professionalism that Naruto had the feeling he would never achieve. She was muttering to herself, and grabbing what looked to Naruto like random hangers of clothing and throwing them on a close chair.

There was already a small mountain of clothes. Naruto saw peaks of black and dark blue, and to his relief, bright orange. It had been his color since childhood and, while Naruto _did_ understand what Kasumi and Sasuke were telling him when it came to bright colors and ninjas, he still loved orange and wanted to wear it.

But then, Kasumi had never broken a promise to him yet. Naruto grinned at the thought, still real giddy at the memory of what had happened not five minutes ago. Yeah, his team was awesome. Even if it _was_ teme.

Sometime later, Kasumi finally appeared to finish and spun around to smile at her teammates. "Okay, Naruto-san, go into the dressing room and try those on please." She waved a hand towards the veritable mountain of clothing. "Throw out those you don't like and show me those that you do."

"Okay!" Grinning brightly, Naruto jumped up and snagged the whole bundle of clothes. Darting into the changing room and locking the door, he began to try them on. Somehow, he wasn't surprised when it turned out he liked most of them. Kasumi, bloodline or not, had always seemed a little supernatural in how she knew exactly what he liked.

When he had asked her once why, back in the Academy, when she'd bought him a set of classic ninja weapons like she knew that Naruto had trouble getting them cause a lot of the shop owners were like this one, Kasumi had simply smiled and said she paid attention to small details and stuff like that.

He had been somewhat dazed at the time, because not only had she remembered his birthday and gotten him a gift, she had apparently also dropped a hint or two to their classmates which resulted in an epic birthday party - they snuck out of school and went to eat Ichiraku Ramen and got scolded for it later, but Naruto still fondly remembered it as the best birthday he had ever had - but Naruto was pretty sure that was when he decided that Kasumi-chan was really, really smart.

His teammate was working with him on the whole paying attention and observation stuff, but Naruto was still near certain that he would never be able to figure out all the stuff that Kasumi did. He figured that was okay though, because she was his teammate and she would tell him what he needed to know.

Naruto glanced in the provided mirror and blinked at himself, dressed in a black shirt with an orange spiral in the middle and black pants. "Neh, Kasumi-chan?" He called out.

"What is it?"

She had told him to throw away what he didn't like and buy what he did, but... "I can't decide which ones I want." Naruto had never really had a choice when it came to what he wore and now that he did, he didn't know what to do.

He swore he could hear her smile in her voice, "Then how about you buy all of them?"

Naruto hesitated; previous experiences had taught him to be stingy with his money. "But... wouldn't that be expensive?"

"It should be below 70,000 ryo." And they had all gotten paid for their A-rank mission, so money honestly shouldn't be a problem.

But, still, Naruto hesitated. Most of the times, what he ended up paying was a lot higher than that for far less clothing. He didn't like the prejudice, but then that was why he wanted to become Hokage and have everyone acknowledge him!

"If you're worried about the store owner, I'm sure we can reason something out." Yup, Naruto thought, sweatdropping, sometimes, he seriously thought Kasumi-chan could read his mind. "And, if you buy everything that you need now, we won't need to go shopping for clothes again for a long time."

Away went all of his doubts. "Got it!" Grinning, he quickly changed back into his jumpsuit and grabbed the stuff he liked. Flinging open the door and jumping out, he found his teammates sitting on the bench, Sasuke smirking faintly and Kasumi smiling serenely.

"Ready for checkout?" She asked kindly, rising to her feet.

"Yeah!" Steeling himself, Naruto made his way to the checkout, flanked by his teammates. Like he thought, the shitty old man tried to up the price to 100, 000 yen, but before Naruto could protest indignantly, he was gently pushed aside by the kunoichi.

And then, to Naruto's awe, Kasumi somehow talked the bigoted old man into returning the price to normal _and_ lowering it to 60,000. Naruto had the feeling it was the senbon that his teammate kept rolling around her fingers and the lazily spinning Sharingan of his other teammate.

When Team 7 finally walked out of that store to meet up with their sensei, Naruto was damn certain that they didn't need to practice their intimidation factor. He was also a little surprised that his grin hadn't split his face yet.

"Oi, dobe." Sasuke said as they made their way to the bridge.

"Yeah?" He was too happy to muster up any annoyance at the teme.

"Why did that store owner hate you so much?"

It was a clearly offhand, curious question. But Naruto found himself freezing up, grasping for a satisfactory answer. "Umm... uhh..." What had Kasumi-chan said? The best lie held a grain of truth in it.

"I stole something from him when I was a kid!" He blurted out, staring down at the road. He didn't have to fake a shamed expression onto his face, because he _had_ stolen out of necessity before; it just wasn't why the store owner actually hated him.

There was a beat of silence. Naruto didn't dare look at either of his teammates, afraid of what he would see. And then,

"Naruto-san, you know how to steal?" Kasumi asked, and to his absolute bewilderment, he thought he might have heard an undertone of admiration in her voice.

Naruto's head snapped up to look at her. "Uhh... yeah?" He replied uncertainly.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Sasuke demanded, and Naruto sincerely had no idea what was going on now, because the _teme_ sounded grudgingly approving as well.

"I, err, thought that you guys would be upset to find out?" It came out as a question, rather than a statement.

"Why?" Kasumi blinked at him, looking truly confused as to how Naruto came to that conclusion.

"When I stole, I was always scolded for it." Naruto mumbled painstakingly.

He caught his teammates exchanging an exasperated look and wondered at it, feeling like he was missing something. "Naruto-san," Kasumi sighed gently, "for ninja, being able to steal is a very useful talent. Neither Sasuke-san nor I have any experience with it, so to know that you do have experience with it means our team is stronger than before."

"Oh!" Naruto had never thought of it that way before. "Is knowing how to steal _that_ helpful?" All the adults had merely shouted and scolded him for it before.

"Hn. We're ninja, dobe." Sasuke said coolly. "That means sometimes we're tasked with retrieving an item without being noticed. That means stealing."

"So... it's a good thing?" Dubious, hopeful, Naruto glanced at Kasumi.

Her smile was tender. "It is."

Naruto grinned, perking up. Yeah, there was no doubt about it. His team was the best!

**Sand**

A few hours later, Naruto wasn't nearly so happy. He gritted his teeth, staring at the two strangers in front of him. The guy had some strange mummy wrapping carried around on his back and even stranger make-up on his face. The girl had golden blonde hair in four ponytails and a giant fan on _her_ back.

All very strange, but Naruto was more concerned with the little boy the make-up guy was holding onto. "Konohamaru!" Damn it, the day's worth of missions was over and his teammates had wandered off to do their own thing. Konohamaru and his friends had showed up with a cloud of smoke - that they almost choked on -, asking to play ninja.

They had been playing tag, Naruto had been it, and he had been chasing the others around Konoha. Just their luck that Konohamaru had bumped into the weird mummy guy, and now, he had to deal with this! What the hell gave these bastards the right to wander around snatching little boys out of the street anyways?

"That hurt, you little piece of shit!" The guy snarled at Konohamaru who whimpered.

"Don't, we'll get yelled at later." The girl warned her companion.

Naruto was straight-up pissed. "Hey Fatass! Let go of him!" He yelled furiously, ready to simply beat his ass.

"Let's play a little before the boss comes." The guy smiled creepily at Konohamaru, completely ignoring Naruto.

"Bastard!" Naruto shouted, snapping his hands up in a familiar jutsu. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five clones formed with a poof of smoke and charged forward with loud war cries.

The guy only smirked and the Naruto in front caught a twitch of his finger. A second later, all of the Narutos were slipping on the ground and smacking into the concrete, dispelling in poofs of smoke. Naruto jerked his head slightly at the sudden influx of information and frowned. What the hell was that?

"Oh, Leaf genin are weak." The guy commented scornfully.

Naruto scowled, narrowing his eyes. Who did this guy think he was, insulting his village _and_ his friends?!

"Konohamaru-chan!" Moegi and Udon called out fearfully.

"Let go of me..." He gasped weakly, hanging limply from the make-up guy's hold.

"Hey! You fat pig!" Naruto hollered, pointing a rude finger at the duo. "If you don't let him go, I'll make you pay! Fatass! Idiot!" Fleetingly, Naruto wished for his team's support, but shooed the thought away. He had to get Konohamaru back!

"Hey, you're annoying," The guy said flatly. "Basically... I hate midgets. Especially younger ones that are rude... makes me want to kill them."

"Wha...?!" Naruto gaped openly at the weirdo. Jeez, he was worse than teme! By his side, Moegi sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks, while Udon tried to keep himself from crying, albeit without much success.

"Oh, well... I'm not involved." The girl sighed to herself.

"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto roared, fist itching to pound that guy's face in.

"Well, after this one, I'll take care of the other annoying midget!" He turned to Konohamaru and raised a fist. Naruto's eyes widened and he tensed. He wouldn't...!

The bastard swung his fist and Naruto clenched his jaw. He would! Damn him! "Hey!" He screamed, running forward with a kunai in his hand, but damn it, he wouldn't make it in time -!

A smacking sound echoed in the air, and a stone fell to the ground as the bastard hissed and drew back. Sweeping by, Naruto managed to grab Konohamaru safely in his arms and jump back to Moegi and Udon.

"Hey!" The fatass cried out, grabbing his bruised hand.

"What are you bastards doing in our village?" A familiar, arrogant voice said, and Naruto glanced up to see Sasuke crouching on a tree not far away, tossing two stones in his hand. The blonde scowled at seeing the Uchiha being all cool and smug again but couldn't help but feeling just a little, teeny-tiny bit relieved that he was here.

It was nice to know that he wasn't facing these jerks all by himself, even if it was with _teme _at his side. Together, they certainly wouldn't have any trouble with these assholes.

* * *

_Next time:_

_Both Kankuro and the blonde kunoichi paled, while Gaara showed no reaction. "You... you're not going to report us, are you?" She asked, sounding scared and desperate both._

* * *

**Me: Okay! We're finally getting into the Chunin Exams! Reviews~**

**starrat: Great!~ Here's the next one, hope you enjoy!**

**Anime hotty lover. 18: Yes, yes he is. Here ya go, thanks for the lovely review!**

**ShikiUploadz: Hmm... are you talking about the percentage that you take up? Lolz, thanks for the review, hun! Siscon or not.**

**Arcana The Wolf: Maybe, maybe not. :P. Lolz, Hiroshi doesn't get pissed because it's his beloved sister that springs it on him. Were he to find out that Naruto and Sasuke were involved though... thanks for the review!**

**lostfeather1: ;D, hmm, probably! Kasumi's sky like that. I'm so happy you enjoyed that chapter, sweetie! Chunin Exams are starting... dun, dun, dun! Thanks for the review!**

**Rosy Fire: Why, thank you! No, no, you haven't forgotten a Naruto arc, hun. I just thought that I might as well make well on Kasumi's promise to herself from the Wave Arc. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**rinievermillion: Oh yes, though normal overprotective brothers don't quite choke their sister's teammates... well, maybe they do. Well, that chapter was rather obvious to us, poor Naruto and Sasuke were clueless. Thanks for the review, dear!**

**Animepleasegood: Aww... thank you so much! Sasuke is terribly arrogant, but he might be mellowing out. Maybe. Haku's death was horrible to write, but yes, Kasumi did need that little push. They aren't quite at that age when Hiroshi can justify warning the boys off from Kasumi dating wise, but we're getting there! Orochimaru, that guy is creepy. We'll see what happens, ;D, thanks for the beautifully long review!**

**wookie. cookie: Oh yes. Poor Naruto and Sasuke, :3. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**kksambo: :o. Thank you so much for your kind words! Increasing Sasuke's crush on her... I'll work on it! ;D, Gaara... well, he's coming up! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!**

**the shadow of nature: More OCs, neh? Maybe in the future... since, we already have five just from the Fumei Clan. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**TheQueenofGoodbyes: Lolz, I'm happy that you liked it! Thanks for the review!**

**Bella-swan11: Yup, the meeting between Naruto and Sasuke and Hiroshi would have happened eventually! Thanks for the review, sweetie!**

**Nikita: No worries! Hmm, I think it might have been both. Hiroshi's overprotective and insightful like that, XD. Sasuke... well, he's certainly being affected by Kasumi. So is Naruto for that matter. Lolz, that's why we have fanfiction! You're very welcome and thank you for the lovely review, dear!**

**MylaUchiha: Thank you very much!**

**Me: Kyaa! So many reviews! Thank you all! Hmm... check out my blog and review some more? Lolz~**

**Question: What animal does Kasumi remind you of?**


	22. Applications

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

**Gaara**

"Ah... another guy who pisses me off." The guy snarled, flexing his trembling hand.

"Get lost!" Sasuke snapped coldly.

"Boss! That was so cool!" Konohamaru beamed up at his idol, stars in his eyes. Moegi and Udon crowded around him, torn between idolizing Naruto and the cool guy that had just showed up or running away in fear at the upcoming confrontation.

"Hey, punk, get down here!" The bastard yelled up at Sasuke, grabbing the mummy-thing on his back and swinging it out and onto the ground. "I hate show-offs like you the most."

"Hey, you're even going to use Karasu?" The girl asked, looking wary all of a sudden.

"Kankuro, stop it." An ice-cold voice interrupted, and Naruto whirled around on instinct, making sure to keep the duo in front of him in his line of vision. A boy stood upside down from a branch close to Sasuke with red-hair, a tattoo that said 'love' on his forehead, and terrifying green eyes.

"You're an embarrassment to our village." He said heartlessly.

Naruto's eyes flickered from him to Sasuke, judging the distance. Too close. From how tense the Uchiha was, he hadn't sensed the new guy either. What the hell was going on here?

"Ga... Gaara." The make-up guy, also known as Kankuro, greeted nervously.

"Losing control of yourself in a fight, how pathetic." Gaara said. "Why do you think we came to the Leaf Village?"

Kankuro pointed a finger at Naruto and the trio of Academy students, prompting a round of shivering and hiding behind the genin's legs. "Listen Gaara, they started it, and..."

"Shut up. I'll kill you." Gaara said and there was no trace of teasing in his tone. Naruto stiffened, watching as Kankuro and the kunoichi paled and trembled in fear. They were a team, he realized. Just like how he and teme and Kasumi-chan were a team. Except... they obviously weren't anywhere as close.

"Ok, I'm sorry..." Kankuro apologized quickly.

"I'm also sorry... really sorry..." The kunoichi smiled nervously, linking her hands behind her back.

"Sorry to you guys." Gaara said shortly to Sasuke and disappeared in a whirl of sand. Naruto's eyes widened; was that a Sand Shunshin?!

"It looks like we got here too early but we didn't come here to play around." Gaara appeared in a whirl of sand in the middle of Kankuro and the kunoichi, who tensed up immediately.

"I know that..." Kankuro muttered.

"Let's go." Gaara turned his back, but Naruto had had enough.

"Oi!" He shouted at them. "Wait!"

The red-head turned back to look blandly at him. "What?"

"What the hell are you doing in our village?!" He demanded, cerulean eyes zeroing in on their headbands. He knew that symbol, he knew he did. "You're ninja from the Village Hidden in the Sand, right?! Why are you in Konoha?!"

From the tree, Sasuke smirked triumphantly. Looks like all those hours banging common knowledge into the dobe's thick skull hadn't been an entire waste. Kasumi would be pleased.

"Hey, talk about clueless." The girl said, holding up a pass. "Don't you know anything? You're right; we are genin from the Hidden Sands. We have come to your village to take the Chunin Selection Exam."

Wait. Huh? What was that? Before Naruto could ask, someone answered.

"It's," A new, much welcomed by Naruto, voice interrupted smoothly, "an exam held for highly skilled genin from separate villages as a chance to become a chunin." Kasumi stepped out gracefully from an alcove of shadows behind the Sand genin, startling them into whipping around to stare at her.

Well, the kunoichi and Kankuro whipped around to stare at her. Gaara just slowly turned his head around to gaze coldly at her.

Like Sasuke did, Naruto thought, like that Gaara guy did. It was sorta like they were all trying to out surprise-appear each other. Wait - he sweatdropped - now that he thought about it, that was probably totally a ninja thing.

"As of right now, you three would be guests of Hidden Leaf." She said, nodding to the trio of genin. "However, in any case, attacking our Hokage's grandson would still be a serious liable offence.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" The kunoichi scowled, placing a hand on her hip.

Kasumi gestured daintily towards Konohamaru, who obligingly puffed out his chest proudly. "Sarutobi Konohamaru. Grandson of Sandaime-sama, Sarutobi Hiruzen."

Both Kankuro and the blonde kunoichi paled, while Gaara showed no reaction. "You... you're not going to report us, are you?" She asked, sounding scared and desperate both. Naruto caught her shooting a frightened look at an impassive Gaara and frowned. Were things between them really that bad?

"Of course not." Kasumi smiled graciously. "Provided that you give me your word that, unless necessary and if my team is nominated for the Chunin Exams as well, your team will not bother us."

Sasuke stiffened, turning to scowl darkly at Kasumi and opening his mouth to protest, but she shut him up with a warning look. Naruto shifted his weight from one foot to the other, gazing at the spectacle uncertainly.

The kunoichi's mouth tightened and she turned to glance questioningly at the red-head. When there was no response, she traded a glance with Kankuro and nodded curtly, "Fine. I give you my word that, unless necessary and if your team is nominated for the Chunin Exams as well, my team will not bother your team unless you attack us first, so long as you don't report us."

Kasumi inclined her head and stepped aside, indicating her willingness to let them pass. Before they could leave, Sasuke appeared in front of Naruto and the kids via Shunshin. "Hey you, what's your name?" He called, prompting the three to turn around again.

"Huh? You mean me?" The kunoichi asked, blushing, and Naruto snorted in the privacy of his mind. He would never understand what girls saw in the teme. Thankfully, Kasumi-chan was immune.

"No." Sasuke rejected bluntly. "You with the gourd." Of course, _of course _Sasuke simply had to go with the one that Naruto's instincts screamed was the most dangerous one of all.

"... Gaara of the Desert." The red-head said slowly. "I'm also interested in you; what's your name?"

"It's Uchiha Sasuke..." Sasuke smirked his smuggest, most irritating smirk of all and Naruto couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey! What about me? Huh?" He yelled loudly, more to dispel the tension than anything else.

Still... "Not interested. Let's go." Gaara said frankly. Ouch, that hurt!

Naruto sulked in a dark corner as the Sand team made their way out. Why was it always Sasuke?!

**Endanger**

Kasumi watched the sand-nin pass her warily and felt a shiver go down her spine. Well... shit. She sighed softly, stepping lightly towards the kids, who were fussing over Naruto. Why couldn't they ever have more than a week or two of peace and quiet?

"Konohamaru-san." The brown-haired little boy looked up at her, wide-eyed. She smiled kindly, saying, "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah."

Politely ignoring the blush on his cheeks, Kasumi looked over everyone else and determined that they were unharmed by the encounter. But, Kami-sama, the Chunin Exams already? She was busy planning out their training schedule for the next six days when Sasuke moved to her side.

"Kasumi." She glanced at him questioningly, half-distracted. He frowned darkly at her, obsidian eyes flashing with irritation, "Why did you wring that promise from them? I wanted to fight him!"

Kasumi blinked slowly, "Sasuke-san, you do realize that we do not yet know whether or not we will participate in the Chunin Exams at all, right?"

His glare intensified and she sighed. "There is classically a tournament at the end of the Exams. And simply because you would like to fight Gaara-san does not mean I do." In fact, she wouldn't like to fight that one at all.

Sasuke grunted, but let the topic drop. She wasn't stupid enough to think that he wasn't still angry at her, though. In the background, Naruto wailed about how it was unfair and Kasumi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Must they?

**Applications**

"We're not sparring today." Kasumi declared as soon as both Sasuke and Naruto had arrived at the bridge.

Naruto's jaw dropped and Sasuke scowled. _"Why not?"_ They pressed in unison and then proceeded to wince at unison at the grating sound of their voices in conjunction.

She swallowed down her laugh. "Sparring is all well and good, but we'll have to focus a bit if we want to survive the Chunin Exams... that, mind you, we don't even know if we've been nominated for."

The mulish looks on the boys' faces convinced her to go on, regardless. "I think it would be best if we focused every morning until the Exams start on one specific aspect of ninja combat. Ninjutsu, stealth, awareness, genjutsu, tactics, information gathering, taijutsu..." She listed, deliberately throwing in some of the catchier types to keep their attention.

Honestly, what was she supposed to do with these boys, she thought with an exasperatedly fond smile when her plan worked perfectly, interest flashing in cerulean and obsidian eyes.

"So, how about we start up with 'ninjutsu: combination attacks'?" She suggested innocently and was promptly met with an eager grin and an approving smirk.

Two hours later, when Kakashi finally designed to turn up, he sweatdropped at the scene that greeted him, his one eye widening. The formerly pristine - sorta - healthily green - mostly - field was gone like the wind and it didn't look like it was coming back. It looked a bit like an inferno had swept through, and had then been followed by a flood and a tornado.

He glanced down at his students who blinked at him in a 'we're-totally-not-guilty-of-any-charges-even-though-we-obviously-are way'. Kakashi sighed, eye-smiling reluctantly. "Maa, maa, I see you ducklings have been busy."

"Yeah! Unlike you, Mr. I-Got-Lost-On-The-Road-Of-Life!" Naruto yelled, pointing a finger up at him.

"Naruto-san."

"Sorry, Kasumi-chan." Naruto let his hand fall back down to his side, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his neck.

"Hn. You're such a dobe."

"What was that, teme?!"

"Ducklings, ducklings, you're both pretty; there's no need to fight!" Kakashi said flippantly, taking no note of the twin death glares that were swiftly aimed at him. Kasumi hid her smile beneath her hand as Kakashi jumped down to stand in front of them, two fingers raised in front of his face.

"This is sudden, but I've nominated you guys for the Chunin Selection Exam." He said cheerfully.

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped into the air, pumping both fists in the air.

"Is that so...?" Kasumi smiled, completely unruffled, and tranquilly ignored the I-told-you-so glance from a Sasuke who was ever so smug.

"Here are your applications." Kakashi held out three slips of paper that were hastily snatched from his fingers.

Naruto grinned and outright glomped their poor sensei, screaming, "Kakashi-sensei! I love you!"

"Hey, stop, let go of me..." Kakashi flailed helplessly, quite unused to flying hug attacks while Kasumi giggled and Sasuke sweatdropped.

"Ahem." Once Naruto saw fit to release him to crackle over his application form, Kakashi straightened up, eyeing his blonde student a bit warily. "This is just a nomination though. Whether to take the Exam is up to each of you. Those who wish to take it should sign those papers and turn them in at Room 301 at 4 pm tomorrow."

"That is all." Kakashi vanished in a blur of Shunshin, leaving the three genin to themselves.

**Doubts**

"Well? What do you think?" Kasumi turned to the boys, although she had a pretty good idea of what they thought.

"We should definitely do it!" Naruto exclaimed, oozing confidence and excitement.

"Hn." Sasuke agreed as they began to walk across the bridge. "There'll be a lot of strong opponents there."

And of course the boys wanted to fight. Kasumi exhaled slowly, wrapping her arms around herself. She wanted to get stronger and become a chunin, too, and she didn't doubt their abilities and teamwork when it came down to it, but...

Her cold hand clenched on her arm. Since their meeting with Gaara and his team, there had been a lead rock in her gut, a fist gripping her heart. She knew not to dismiss the signs. Her instincts were _screaming_ at her to run, to get away from the tidal wave that was coming. But she couldn't do that, could she...?

"Kasumi-chan?" She snapped out of her trance to see Naruto peering at her with worried eyes and Sasuke frowning at her. She wondered how troubled she had to have looked that _Naruto_ had noticed. "Is something wrong?"

When she said nothing, Naruto kept on with the rapid-fire questions, "Do you not want to go? Are you scared? I won't let anyone hurt you, I pr -"

She shook her head, rebellious strands of cream hair flying in the air. "No. It's not that."

"Then what is it?" Sasuke demanded, obsidian eyes shrewd.

Kasumi sighed and tilted her head back to look at the sky. So pure, so bright, so untouched... "It's just... genin _die_ in the Chunin Exams, boys." And the sinking feeling in her heart warned that death might not even be the worst thing they could encounter. Sometimes, she hated what her bloodline told her. Like now.

Distracted as she was, she didn't notice the glance the boys traded. While suitably cautious and realistic, Kasumi didn't lack for courage or daring. For her to be fretting...

Naruto responded first. "Don't worry about it, Kasumi-chan!" He said brightly. "I'm sure everything will be alright!"

"It's useless to worry. If you're that concerned, we should just do more training." Was Sasuke's - in Naruto's opinion, worthless - contribution.

"Hmm." Kasumi didn't look all that comforted, but she turned to flash a warm smile at them. "Alright. Ichiraku Ramen, then? To celebrate?"

Naturally, Naruto didn't have any protests against this. "Yeah! Ramen!~"

"Hn. I'm going to go train." Sasuke declared, turning to walk off. But Kasumi caught Naruto's eye and winked, and Naruto grinned a foxy grin. Darting forward, they both caught one of Sasuke's arms and, ignoring his spluttered protests, dragged him to the Sacred Ramen Stand, laughing and joking.

In the end, Sasuke just gave up, recognizing a losing fight when he saw one. Kasumi and Naruto glanced at each other and discreetly high-fived.

**Teams**

"We _all_ got entered into the Chunin Exams?" Kasumi blinked, eyes wide. As far as she knew, such an event was nearly unheard of.

"Yeah. So troublesome." Shikamaru yawned and went back to watching the clouds. At his side, Choji did his best to rapidly decimate his bag of potato chips. Kasumi had split off from her team after lunch and joined with her Academy friends on their usual rooftop.

"Is anyone else going from Konoha?" Kasumi asked the group at large, dancing a senbon between her fingers.

"I-I think another g-group is g-going." Hinata stuttered, weaving a flower wreath with her deft fingers.

Kasumi glanced at the shy girl in surprise and saw Shino straighten up from the corner of her eye. So, even Hinata's teammate hadn't known about this, huh?

"Hinata, who is it that you are referring to?" Shino questioned lowly, adjusting his glasses.

"I-I... my c-cousin." Hinata managed to get out, staring intently at her flowers and looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Your cousin's in that team?" Choji interpreted, to her grateful nod.

"So three rookie teams and one other." Kasumi said thoughtfully, lying next to Shikamaru as his current ally in cloud-watching. And that 'other' she noted to herself, seemed to hold a powerful Byakugan user. "Well. This'll be interesting."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru corrected lazily. "This'll be very troublesome."

"Indeed." She whispered.

**Medicine**

Despite Naruto and Sasuke's reassurances, and her friends' silent support, Kasumi didn't feel better. So, she decided to do something about her worry rather than simply pace in her bedroom.

The kunoichi made her way steadily down the Hospital's hallway, alert brown eyes darting from here to there. She was looking for someone... and there! She cut her way gracefully towards the pink-haired girl doing her best to carry multiple folders in her arms, reshuffle them, and walk in a straight line at the same time.

"Sakura-san."

Haruno Sakura glanced up, green eyes wide when she spotted Kasumi. "Oh! Kasumi!"

"Need some help?" She asked with a playful smile.

Sakura snorted, "Oh, shush you. Grab some of my folders, please?"

Kasumi's smile only widened and she helpfully did as asked, lessening the rosette's workload by a substantial amount. "Where are we going?"

"Not far." Sakura assured her, weaving with confidence through the complex hallways. "...There!" She kicked open the door and dumped all of the files on the wooden desk with a relieved sigh, brushing back a few strands of pink hair as Kasumi followed suit.

"So." She sent a surprisingly perceptive glance at Kasumi, but then again, in the few weeks since they had struck up a friendship, Kasumi had realized that Sakura, when not distracted by Sasuke, was eminently intelligent, enough so that her evaluation of their relationship had changed from 'potentially useful' to 'useful and enjoyable'.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked, point-blank. "We agreed to meet two days from now, and you normally don't smirch on appointments."

Kasumi smiled and didn't bother deflecting the question. She was on a time limit, after all. "I need a favor."

"What is it?"

"I need a crash course on First Aid and I need it now."

Sakura frowned, taking off her white coat and placing it on the chair. "On what sort of injuries?"

"The sort of injuries that occur when rookie genin take the Chunin Selective Exam."

Sakura's gasp was loud in the silence. As a medic apprentice, she must have heard of the Exams. "You're taking the Exams _now_?"

"Now." There really was no point in hiding the truth. "Or at least, in three days.

"Oh God." Sakura's face went five shades paler. "Okay, okay." She collapsed on her chair and put her head in her hands. "Let me think."

Minutes passed in silence while Kasumi took a seat on a nearby chair and waited patiently. Finally, Sakura took a deep breath and looked up. "I'll teach you about lacerations, broken bones, and fractures and dislocations. A little on bruising and stitches and poisons. Will that be enough?"

"It has to be enough." She said honestly. "Can we start now?"

In response, Sakura bolted out of her seat, grabbed Kasumi's hand, and pulled her down the hallway. She proceeded to go the Hospital's equivalent of a Library and all but threw books of the shelf and into Kasumi's arms. They were quickly followed by fast-paced lectures and diagrams and enthusiastic arm-waving.

Kasumi listened quietly, absorbed everything into her sponge-like mind, and hoped it was enough.

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_Next time:_

_The cream-haired girl went predatory still, a cold shiver running down her spine. It took every ounce of her control to keep her breathing steady, to turn her head around at a moderate pace, and not take off running. It felt like someone had grabbed her heart in an icy grip and_ throttled.

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**Me: And... the Chunin Exams are here! Reviews, lovely reviews~**

**ShadowPhoenix24: Lolz, I can get where you're coming from. Thanks for the review!**

**ShikiUploadz: :o! Maybe .0000000000000000001%. Maybe.**

**Anime hotty lover. 18: Yup, yup! It's okay, he has Team 7 now. Gaara is most certainly here. Though he wants to kill everybody at this point. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**TamashinoSuzume: Yup, team bonding! Hmm... owl and lion, huh? I'll consider it, thanks for going to all that trouble! Hope you enjoy this chapter, darling!**

**lostfeather1: Lolz, that they are. Those two have an epic rivalry, really. A fox and a cat, hmm? I'll consider it, thanks for the lovely review!**

**starrat: I'm glad! Here ya go, hope you enjoy!**

**wookie. cookie. : That's great! Thank you very much! XD**

**TheQueenofGoodbyes: First series? You mean like the first half of Part 1 of Naruto? More romance will certainly be coming up. Wolf or a dolphin, hmm? I'll think about it, thanks for the suggestions, dear!**

**LateNightOwl: Aww, thank you so much! I'm delighted that you like my story. Praying mantis? That's a new one, but I like it! Thanks for the review, darling!**

**Deception is Decepticon: I'm very happy you like my story. :3, thanks for the review!**

**Rosy Fire: Yup, yup! Eagle or a hawk, hmm? I'll consider it, thanks for the great suggestions!**

**animemangaobsessed: Lolz, a passive-aggressive lioness? Sounds interesting! XD**

**helenGet: That's awesome!~ Hope you enjoy this chapter then!**

**Elaine302: Aww, thank you! Here's your update, hope you like!**

**MylaUchiha: Mm-hm, Naruto had to get that off his chest. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Bella-swan11: Hmm... Kasumi and Gaara, huh? Ideas, ideas. Thanks for the review!**

**Guest (Arcana the Wolf): Lolz, hiya! Naruto and Kasumi? Err... maybe in a more family type way? Poor Konohamaru is fine, don't you worry. Thanks for the review, darling!**

**rinievermilion: Oh, that's fine, hun. Rabbit Kasumi? That'll be interesting... thanks for the review!**

**Marie: Yup, yup!**

**Me: Okay! So many reviews, thank you all! Oh, and my wonderful betas, too.**

**Question: What would be one word that you would use to describe Kasumi?**


	23. Entrance

**Me: I do not own One Piece!**

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_Last time:_

_Kasumi listened quietly, absorbed everything into her sponge-like mind, and hoped it was enough._

* * *

**Tactics**

Kasumi, Naruto thought to himself dizzily, was a sadist. Either that or something was seriously wrong. He couldn't quite decide which as he slumped to the ground, birds flying in circles above his head.

"Naruto-san." She sounded a mix between amused and exasperated, which was more and more likely now a days. "It's not that hard."

"But, Kasumi-chan...!"

"Shut up and suck it up, dobe." Sasuke said, but Naruto heard that note of disgruntlement in his tone, too. Sasuke wasn't any happier with this than he was.

"You shut up, teme." Naruto groaned, too brain-dead to muster up proper anger.

"Boys." Kasumi had that tone again, the pay-attention-or-you'll-regret-it tone. Naruto gulped, hurriedly dragging himself up to sitting position. She quirked an eyebrow at Naruto, and he was briefly envious. No matter how much he practiced in front of a mirror, he couldn't do that, even though Kasumi-chan and teme could.

"Focus please." She requested. "Now then, Naruto-san, if your enemy was in hiding..."

Naruto groaned and wondered if he would have enough brain cells left by the end of today to eat ramen for dinner.

**Genjutsu**

"Ahh! My ramen! My ramen! Give me back my precious ramen!"

Sasuke deadpanned as he watched the dobe run around, waving his arms in the air, and smack straight into a tree. Damn, Naruto really did suck at genjutsu. It was around seven already, and so far, Naruto had failed to dispel all but two of the genjutsu he had been placed under.

Sitting under the shade of a tree, Kasumi winced as Naruto slid down to the ground, muttering something about ramen and his atrocious orange jumpsuit. Sasuke had no real problems with genjutsu with his Sharingan, and Kasumi had breezed through it, too.

Sasuke hadn't been nearly as surprised at her capability for it than at _how_ she broke through his genjutsu. Instead of dispelling the flow of his chakra with a surge of outward chakra like normal, she had somehow... pushed out with her chakra from within her own body. To him, it had felt like she had nudged his chakra out and away from her.

He had never heard of something like that, and when asked, she'd explained it as a side-affect of her kekkei genkai. In layman's terms, the Tentaiora was wholly alien and thus rejected invading chakra if utilized, thereby preventing Sasuke from manipulating the chakra flow of her cerebral nervous system and casting genjutsu on her.

Sasuke hadn't quite understood it, but let it go as 'Kasumi won't be bothered by genjutsu'. Which, he could admit, would probably be extremely useful in the future if they came upon a genjutsu user, which they probably would... sooner rather than later, with their team's luck.

"My ramen!"

But first, he sighed, they would have to get Naruto up to par. His eyebrow twitched as Naruto ran head-first into yet another tree, this time getting tangled up in the nearby bushes. It didn't help that the blonde idiot was rather gullible.

Bring up anything on ramen or the Hokage's hat or flashy jutsu, and he was hooked. Sasuke could only hope that their enemies never found out about _that_ particular weakness.

**Acquisition**

"Err..." Naruto fidgeted uneasily from behind the bush they were hiding behind, eyes fixed on the blue-haired Hyuga walking down the street some distance away. "Kasumi-chan, are you sure this is okay?"

"It's fine." She soothed, crouched beside him. "It's Hinata-san, I'm sure she won't be mad at you. Besides, I need to assess your skills in larceny."

"Hn. If you're so worried, dobe, just make a shadow clone and get it to do it." Sasuke said pragmatically.

Naruto lit up, a wide, relieved grin stretching across his face. "You're right! Looks like you can have some good ideas after all, teme!" Ignoring the twitch of Sasuke's eyebrow, he snapped his fingers into a familiar seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A second later, a clone popped up and nodded to the trio. Naruto nodded back seriously, and they watched as the clone transformed himself into an average looking citizen and walked confidently down the street. From their hiding place, they had a perfect view of the scene as it played out.

Clone Naruto sauntered down the street, walking past Hinata without a glance in her direction. Hinata being Hinata, she avoided his gaze, staring at the wall to her left like it was the most interesting thing in the world. The clone turned down the right corner and was back with the original two minutes later, Hinata none the wiser.

"Got it!" He grinned foxily at the real Naruto, holding out a pale blue wallet. Naruto took it, grinning that same grin back.

"All right!"

The clone dispelled in a poof of smoke, and Naruto turned back to his teammates with a proud grin. "Well, well, well?! What do you think?! That was pretty good, huh?! I bet you two didn't see a thing!"

"It was very good." Kasumi replied with an approving smile. "I was even looking for the exchange, but couldn't see it." Which either spoke badly of her observational skills or well of Naruto's theft skills. She chose to think it was the latter.

"Hn." Sasuke didn't dish out an insult, which was about as close to a compliment as he could get.

Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, I've had practice..." As soon as the last word left his mouth, he froze visibly, eyes darting back to his teammates to evaluate their expressions.

Kasumi kindly put his fears to rest. "Why don't you go and give Hinata-san her wallet back? I'm sure she would appreciate it."

"Eeh? But what would I say?"

"Simply imply that it fell out of her pocket and onto the street. You came along, saw it happen, and decided to give it back to her." She suggested easily.

"Okay! I'll be right back!" Naruto jumped down and raced after Hinata without a second thought. "Oi! Hinata!"

Kasumi watched with a satisfied smile as the two conversed, Hinata nearly fainting as she accepted her wallet back with a trembling hand. It helped that, with the orange monstrosity in the garbage, Naruto was wearing a dark blue shirt over black pants with orange strips down the side, and he no longer looked like a neon sign in the dark.

Wonderful. Two birds with one stone.

Sasuke glanced at this female teammate, taking in the devious glint in her chocolate eyes warily. "... Kasumi. What did you do?"

Kasumi turned to smile sweetly at him, batting her eyelashes 'innocently', "'Do'? I didn't _do_ anything."

He eyed her cautiously and wisely decided not to ask.

**Fine**

"Ah... everyone ready?" Kasumi rested her chin on her interlaced fingers, her elbows braced on the counter of Ramen Ichiraku the night before the start of the Exams. She was already done with her bowl of miso ramen.

"Yosh! Believe it!" Naruto flashed his mega-watt smile at her, complete with a thumbs-up, having wisely swallowed his bite of ramen before speaking. He _was_ learning, albeit slowly.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked confidently, placing his chopsticks down as he finished his ramen as well. "We'll be fine."

"Yeah! We'll kick their asses!" Naruto chimed in.

Kasumi smiled ruefully, rather certain those reassurances were aimed at her. Neither of the boys truly lacked in confidence when it came down to it. The kunoichi was torn between being pleased that her teammates could read her so easily and being perturbed by the same thing.

She had trained, she had prepared, she should be ready. Yet, despite that, Kasumi couldn't shake off the apprehension that troubled her. It was as if they were being stalked, slowly but steadily, by a snake in the grass. She swallowed harshly and forcibly made herself tune back into the rest of the world, just in time to hear:

"Dobe. At this rate, you're going to kill yourself by overeating before we ever get to the Chunin Exams."

"Shut up, teme! You can't take away my ramen!"

Never mind. Kasumi tilted her head back, eyes on the gently shining stars above. She was sure... she was sure they would be fine.

(She hoped they would all be fine.)

**Lee**

"Have you got everything?" Hiroshi fussed with a worried frown on his face while Kasumi stood motionless by the door, a half-exasperated, half-fond smile on her face. "Are you sure you're ready? Maybe you should bring some more kunai. Or ninja wire. Or - "

"Onii-san." Kasumi cut in with a small sigh, lifting up her hands to fend him off. "Stop worrying. We'll be fine." That was what she hoped, anyways.

Hiroshi sighed, shoulders slumping dramatically. "Alright, alright. My little girl's growing up. Just be careful, alright?" He petted her head gently.

"I'll be careful. Love you." Kasumi got up on her tippy toes and pressed a kiss to her brother's cheek.

"Love you, too, Kasumi-chan." He grinned at her brightly.

She smiled back and left. Unsurprisingly, Sasuke was already there when Kasumi arrived and he raised an eyebrow at her as she walked up.

"It's not like you to be late." He commented.

She smiled apologetically. "Onii-san held me back a bit." Kasumi bit back a laugh as Sasuke's eyebrow twitched at the mention of her brother. Her teammates still remained wary around Hiroshi when Kasumi wasn't around.

"OI! KASUMI-CHAN! TEME!" Naruto chose that moment to make his entrance, as loud and flashy as possible. Ah well, at least he wasn't still wearing his orange jumpsuit, she mused to herself as she turned to wave back to the blond.

"Good morning. Ready to go?"

"Yeah! Let's do this!" Naruto grinned, pumping his fist into the air.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, hand shoved into his pockets, and headed off for the doors. "Hn. Come on then."

Naruto grumbled and Kasumi sighed, but they fell into step beside the Uchiha as they climbed the steps. Not five minutes in, Kasumi blinked as she felt the wave of a genjutsu wash over her. Already...?

The scene they arrived at was... interesting. A large crowd was gathered in front of a pair of doors that proclaimed 301 and two shinobi stood guard before them, arms crossed, evidently blocking their way.

Two genin were on the floor in front of the hostile shinobi, tell-tale marks on their faces that spoke of being struck. Kasumi's eyes instantly zoomed in on the pair of milky violent eyes of a ninja with long, dark hair, who was offering a hand to a kunoichi she assumed was his teammate.

Hyuga. This one, then, was Hinata's cousin, she assumed. But... from the impression she had gotten from the meek Heiress, her cousin was extraordinarily powerful. So, what was he doing with this team that was being publically humiliated?

Obviously, those two were chunin, probably as a preliminary test before the actual Exams, but they wouldn't be displaying power above genin level.

"Kasumi?" Sasuke stopped several feet away from the commotion, dark eyes glancing at her questioningly.

She hesitated. The genjutsu ploy _would_ effectively weed out the weaker competition, thereby giving their Team less trouble later. But how to sneak by...

"Hold on." Kasumi whispered, snapping through a minor genjutsu. No one with laudable intellect would fall for it, but that was hardly the meaning of this test. A moment later, their image blurred to any outside eyes and then disappeared entirely.

The Hyuga glanced up sharply, eyes narrowing. He activated his dojutsu after a moment, veins bulging out as those white eyes instantly focused on Team 7. Kasumi ignored him; if he had any common sense he wouldn't point them out. He had his own problems at the moment.

"Stay quiet." She instructed quietly, and the boys nodded in understanding. They carefully tip-toed past the horde, paying no mind to the Hyuga, whose eyes followed them attentively. They were almost to the stairs when a voice interrupted them.

"Hey, guy with dark eyes!"

In unison, Kasumi, Naruto, and Sasuke turned around to see the genin from before standing on a platform above them. The bruises on his face had vanished without a trace, leaving a boy around their age with a bowl-shaped haircut, thick eyebrows, and round eyes in a green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers.

"What is it?" Sasuke replied coolly.

"Will you fight me right here?" He demanded.

Sasuke blinked. "A fight right now?"

"Yes." The genin flung himself off the platform and landed in front of them in a blur of green. "My name is Rock Lee. You are Uchiha Sasuke, right?"

"Heh, so you know?"

"I want to fight you." Lee declared, settling into a fighting stance. "I want to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius ninja clan."

Kasumi took a glance at her dark-haired teammate and sighed, recognizing the gleam in his dark eyes with ease. Sasuke wanted to fight this interloper. Shaking her head slightly, she lightly grabbed Naruto's wrist and tugged him back.

There really was no reason for them to be caught up in this mess.

**Gai**

Kasumi watched Sasuke and Lee fight apathetically, although, truthfully, it was more of a one-sided beating on Sasuke's part. The Uchiha tried to utilize his Sharingan, of course, but Lee's style of fighting was pure taijutsu, pure speed, and even the famed dojutsu couldn't give Sasuke the edge in this fight, his speed no match for the other genin's.

Thankfully though, Sasuke was able to avoid the majority of the damage, his Sharingan and reflexes advanced enough that even if he couldn't wholly predict the attack, he could still avert the full brunt of it. Although she was sure his ego was taking quite a blow.

Kasumi inwardly congratulated herself on the speed drills she had made her team go through, even as she worried over the amount of damage Sasuke was going to suffer through by the end of this fight. They still had the entirety of the Chunin Exam to go through - they did not need one of their members to injured gravely beforehand.

"That's enough, Lee!" An unfamiliar voice barked out as Lee prepared to perform some obscure taijutsu move on Sasuke mid-air, and a pinwheel whirled through the air to attach one of Lee's bandages to the wall. Kasumi glanced to the left and blinked.

A large, large turtle with a leaf forehead protector tied around its neck scowled, as much as turtles could scowl, at Lee, who suddenly looked decidedly guilty as he spun away from Sasuke. "Ugh!"

Who... was still falling, making no move to cushion his landing. Kasumi sighed, running forward and catching Sasuke in her arms. Setting him down gently on the ground, she swept her eyes over his form, cataloging his wounds like Sakura had taught her.

Bruises, mostly. They would fade within a day or two. For now... she sighed again, turning to face the man who looked like a carbon copy of Lee, albeit older. Naruto skidded to a stop beside her, looking torn between looking over Sasuke himself and gaping at the jounin that had just arrived.

'Really, what is _with_ my team's luck?' she mused as he introduced himself, very flamboyantly, as Maito Gai, Lee's sensei, and Kakashi's eternal rival.

And then he proceeded to traumatize Team 7.

**Entrance**

"Ah! So you ducklings finally arrived." Kakashi greeted them in front of the true '301', hands in his pockets. "Looks like all three of you came after all."

"Oh?" Kasumi inquired, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Had their sensei been aware of her doubts?

"The truth is this test can only be taken by teams of three." He revealed, sounding completely unrepentant.

"Huh? But you said taking the test was an individual choice. Did you lie to us?" Naruto frowned, scratching his head.

"Ah, well, I didn't want to pressure any of my precious students into taking an Exam they didn't want to take." Kakashi eye-smiled at them. "But now that all of you are here by your own free will, I wish you luck in the Chunin Exams!"

Sasuke smirked, Naruto grinned, and Kasumi smiled.

"Now go!" He commanded, stepping back to let them through the doors behind him.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Naruto shouted as Kasumi and Sasuke pushed open the door. Upon entering, three pairs of eyes widened.

"W... Wow." Naruto breathed in awe and a whisper of consternation.

"..." Sasuke observed their competition through narrowed eyes, sharp obsidian eyes scanning the room.

"Looks like we have company." Kasumi smile faintly even as her mind whirled, already hard at work.

Genin of all ages littered the large room - some standing, some sitting in the chairs or on the tables, some leaning on the walls - and everyone's attention focused on them as conversation died down for a brief moment.

The silence was hard and stifling, tension stretching uncomfortably as dozens of eyes locked onto Team 7, judging them in a glance, trying to stare them down, but none of them were anywhere near as intimidating as Momichi Zabuza.

"Sasuke-kun!" A familiar, shrill voice cut through the attempted intimidation. Yamanaka Ino hurled out of the darkness, latching onto Sasuke's neck with unnerving accuracy. "You're late!"

"... You guys are taking this test, too. Don't die." Was Shikamaru's opening gambit as he and Choji walked up to them, following their female teammate, the one that Sasuke was currently wrestling off of him. As usual, the Nara was slouched, hands in pockets, and Choji was eating chips.

"Oh! The Idiot Trio!" Naruto said, nicely ignorant to the true capacities of the group outside of the Academy.

"Don't call us that!" Shikamaru sighed, too lazy to properly work out enough anger. "Man... this sucks..."

"Kasumi-chan!" Choji grinned at Kasumi, holding out his bag of chips. "Want one?"

Kasumi wasn't very hungry, but she took one anyways. "Thanks, Choji-san."

"Yahoo! Found you!" Kiba walked up to them, Akamaru on his head, with a giant grin, Hinata and Shino by his side.

"H-Hello." Hinata greeted shyly, cheeks flushed.

"Well, well, everyone is assembled." Kiba sounded gleeful.

"You guys, too, huh?" Shikamaru breathed a resigned sigh. Then again, he had probably been expecting this outcome since that afternoon on the roof.

"I see... all nine of this year's rookie genin are taking the Exam. I wonder how far we will get, eh, Sasuke-kun?" Kiba mocked.

"Pft... you seem confident, Kiba." Sasuke responded with a smirk.

"We did a lot of training. We won't lose to you." The Inuzuka claimed.

"Shut up! We won't lose to the likes of you!" Naruto jumped into the fray.

"Sorry, Naruto-kun. Kiba-kun didn't mean it in that way..." Hinata apologized sweetly, pressing the tips of her fingertips together.

Naruto only waved it off. "Eeh, don't worry bout it. Not your fault."

Kasumi eyed the crimson color of Hinata's face and, after a moment of thought, decided that the other kunoichi wasn't going to faint. Yet.

"Hey, you guys. You should be more quiet."

The cream-haired girl went predatorily still, a cold shiver running down her spine. It took every ounce of her control to keep her breathing steady, to turn her head around at a moderate pace, and not take off running. It felt like someone had grabbed her heart in an icy grip and _throttled _it.

Blazing sienna eyes fixated on the silver-haired teenager with glasses that was walking towards the group. No... just _no_. This person was bad, bad, _bad_ news. Almost subconsciously, her hands reached out and gripped the hands of her teammates. She wasn't sure if it was because she wanted reassurance that this man wouldn't harm her or if she wanted to reassure herself that this man hadn't harmed them.

Both Naruto and Sasuke stiffened subtly and shot a look at Kasumi, but she didn't look back at them. Discreetly, she took a step back, forcing her teammates to move with her as the teen introduced himself as Kabuto and advised them to take a look around.

Kasumi joined the rest of the group in glancing around purely to escape suspicion, noting - to her non-existent surprise - that a large part of the room had taken offense to the loud noise coming from their section and was now glaring at them. A group of four with headbands consisting of four parallel lines had particularly murderous glares.

"Those guys behind you are from the Hidden Rain, they have short tempers." Kabuto said in faux helpfulness. "Everyone is nervous about the Exams, quiet down before you cause a scene."

She said nothing as they turned in unison to look back at him questioningly, the kunoichi's hand tightening on Naruto and Sasuke's. A snake, Kasumi thought with suppressed horror as her teammates reciprocated the pressure. He reminded her of a slimy snake coiling itself in preparation for a strike.

"Well, I can't blame you. You're clueless rookies. You remind me of how I used to be." A hand rested lightly on his utility pouch.

"So this is your second time?" Ino spoke up, lifting her chin.

"Nope. My seventh time. This Exam is held twice a year so this is my fourth year." He admitted without the slightest embarrassment.

Kasumi didn't believe him in the least. The warning blaring red, red, red in her mind wouldn't be there if this ninja was as pathetic as he was making himself out to be. He _wasn't_ genin level. Then... what... what was going on...?! She took a deep breath, smashing down on the rising panic.

This wasn't the time to lose it.

Sasuke edged his way in front of her slyly, dropping her hand with one last squeeze, while Naruto stepped back, worried blue eyes flickering from her to the-genin-who-wasn't-a-genin. He gripped her hand lightly, the other hand resting near his shuriken holster.

"You must know a lot about this Exam then." Ino said shrewdly, and, belatedly, Kasumi remembered that her father had been the Head of T&amp;I.

"That's right." Kabuto smiled. "How about I share some info with you cute rookies? With these nin-info cards..." He held up a deck of cards that he had retrieved in front of his face invitingly.

Kasumi swallowed hard, licking her lips nervously. Information. There were two types of information. There was the type where it was, if not obvious, tangible. You could find it out if you were perceptive enough. That was stuff like height, specialization, friends, and enemies.

Then there was the type of info where it wasn't. Where, no matter how much you might analyze, you wouldn't be able to deduce it. That was classified information. Secrets. Ciphers. Files, papers, whispered conversations, that was where you might find it.

That was the difference between an observant ninja and a spy.

Of course, Kabuto _could_ be a Leaf nin in disguise, but if that was the case, Kasumi's gut wouldn't be churning, her heart beating against her ribcage like a struggling bird. No, Kabuto was not an ally.

"Nin-info cards?" Ino frowned, brow furrowing.

"They are basically cards which have info burned on to them with chakra. I have four years of info here. Over 200 cards.. they look blank but to open the info on these cards..." He removed one of the cards and placed it on the floor, one finger pressed to the center as chakra spun.

"What are you doing?" Ino demanded.

"You can't view them unless I use my chakra. For example..." A small poof of smoke and suddenly the previously blank card held a detailed map.

"Wow, a really easy to read graph. What kind of info is this?"

"This is the number of those taking the Exams and the breakdown of what country they are from."

Okay, okay. That wasn't too bad. It didn't push him past that fragile line. Kasumi waited for the other shoe to drop.

Sasuke glanced back at her a question in his eyes. She knew what he wanted to do, knew that he was asking if he should do it. Kasumi contemplated it, decided without much uncertainty. Fine, she would throw that other shoe then, and wait to see where it would land.

She inclined her head and Sasuke stepped forward, "Do you have cards with info on individuals?"

"Hehe, there are some guys you're worried about? Of course, the info on all of this Exam's participants isn't perfect, but I do have it. Even of you guys." - Kasumi had the sudden, suicidal urge to plunge a kunai into Kabuto's heart - "Say something about these guys and I'll take a look."

"Gaara of the Hidden Sand and Rock Lee from Leaf."

"Oh, you know their names. Should be easy then." He swiped his hand over the cards and held up two cards.

"Show me." Sasuke commanded.

And Kabuto sealed his fate. Kasumi glanced up, met Shikamaru and Shino's gaze. Although Shikamaru's eyes were heavy-lidded and Shino's were hidden by his glasses, the same sentiment passed between the three of them.

_Kabuto... is the one we need to avoid._

* * *

_Next time:_

_Naruto took another look at the accursed paper and gripped his head. 'This is bad! Seriously...! Seriously! SERIOUSLY!" Beads of sweat ran down his face as he flipped out. 'What should I do... What should I do... What should I do... !"_

* * *

**Me: Yay! Reviews!**

**Anime hotty lover. 18: Lolz, yup! Chunin Exams! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**GaaraXKasumi: I don't think that's the main pairing here, Reader-chan, but nice try! XD, here ya go, enjoy!**

**starrat: That's great! Here's the next chapter, hope you like as well!**

**wookie. cookie. :O.O I think things got even more intense, darling! Thanks for the review!**

**Guest: :O, I would never leave my readers hanging! Though, my plot bunnies sometimes do swamp me and I get knee-deep in another story. I'm so happy you like my story, hun, enjoy the new chapter! And thanks for the review!**

**Rosy Fire: Uh-oh! Oh well, I could try, couldn't I? :3 Orochimaru and Sasuke, hmm? Guess you'll have to wait and see! Thanks for the review, sweetie!**

**SleepAroundTheClock: Oh, that's a good one! I like it, describes Kasumi very nicely. Thanks for the input!**

**ShikiUploadz: Are you sure? I don't think there's that many people...**

**hey: Hmm, precise fits pretty nicely too. Kasumi and Tsunade... well, maybe... Lolz, thanks for the review!**

**Guest: Well, for now, she's just the sorta cunning but weak girl in his eyes. Ah yes, Kabuto is only the beginning. Thanks for the review, darling!**

**Iluvcandyiluvcandy: I love candy, too, Reader-chan. XD, I'm overjoyed that you enjoy my story! Lolz, there was a bit of him up there. If you really want more of him, there's a side story that's called Facets of Color with plenty of Hiroshi. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**purplesmurf712: Aww, thank you so much! As for Orochimaru and Sasuke...you'll have to wait and see! Unique... I like it! Thanks for the review!**

**TheQueenofGoodbyes: *sighs* Well, it'll have to happen someday. Yes, Kasumi is quite aware of how things are starting to crest. Idiosyncratic... I think that's a beautiful word, thank you! Ocean...it fits her, she is from the Hidden Mist. Lolz, Kasumi quite literally means misty actually. Thanks for the lovely review!**

**LateNightOwl: Ugh, I agree wholly. Predator, hmm? Well...we'll get to the prey part later. Thank you and I will do my best!**

**SasukexhinataXOC: Lolz, well, it fits. XD, thanks for the review!**

**the shadow of nature: Yay!**

**whiteOostrawberries: Oh, lolz, I never noticed. Let's pretend we never noticed, :3. I'm so happy you like my story and style of writing! No worries, KasumiXSasuke is most certainly the main pairing. Thanks for the wonderful reviews, hun!**

**Me: Okay, my attention has been wavering a bit lately cause the plot bunnies attacked me and dragged me off to write a new story. But, don't worry, I'll recover soon. Hmm, thanks to my fantastic betas and go...review? The blog website isn't functioning so well at present. Cha~**

**Question: Which of the seven deadly sins is Kasumi?**


	24. First

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

_Last time:_

_And Kabuto sealed his fate. Kasumi glanced up, met Shikamaru and Shino's gaze. Although Shikamaru's eyes were heavy-lidded and Shino's were hidden by his glasses, the same sentiment passed between the three of them._

Kabuto... is the one we need to avoid.

* * *

**#1**

'Morino Ibiki...' Kasumi identified to herself, tapping a finger absently on the back of her paper. 'Head of the Torture and Interrogation Unit, a Division of the Konohagakure Intelligence Division.' The scarred man had - regrettably - interrupted a fight between Kabuto and a group of Sound nins and promptly separated the teams.

And then he had proceeded to hand out the paper tests.

She sighed, an almost amused smile curving her lips. Even from here, she could practically see Naruto's panic. For all of Kasumi and Sasuke's semi-patient teachings, theories and written exams were _not_ the blonde's forte. This would be a trial indeed.

"The third rule is that during the Exam anyone caught by the testing officers doing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points subtracted for every offence." Ibiki grinned a wolfish smile, dark eyes glittering.

'Ah...' Kasumi's eyes widened marginally, 'That's all but asking us to cheat. So this is that kind of test then... I guess I should have expected that from a member of the Intelligence Division. It's a good thing that information gathering is a specialty of mine...'

"So there will be some who will lose all their points during the Exam and be asked to leave." Ibiki continued.

"We'll be watching you guys..." A lazy proctor, one that looked like a suspiciously grown-up version of one of the ninja that had been guarding the door downstairs, smirked.

"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the level of Chunin, be proud ninjas." Ibiki lectured sternly.

Get caught cheating, huh? Why, it was almost as if he was _encouraging_ cheating, Kasumi thought to herself, hiding her smile.

"And the final rule. Those that lose all their initial points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly will be failed along with their two teammates."

Kasumi paused. That... might be a problem. Sasuke was smart - even if he couldn't answer any of the questions by himself, he would figure out the cheating rule. Naruto, on the other hand...

She snuck a glance behind him, finding her desolate teammate easily. Her gaze flickered around him and focused on blue hair. Hyuga Hinata. Mild smile returning to her lips, Kasumi faced forward once more, finger taping away. Hinata liked Naruto too much to let him fail here.

He would be just fine.

"This Exam will last one hour." Ibiki ordained. "Ok... Begin!"

**Brown**

Kasumi flipped her test over along with every other genin in the room and scanned over her test leisurely. All of the questions were very, very complicated.

She sweatdropped. There was no doubt Naruto wouldn't be able to complete a single one. In fact, she had doubts Sasuke would be able to complete a single one. Kasumi could conjure some answers - not all of them, but she would be okay.

Her teammates, though...

Pressing her lips together, Kasumi effortlessly solved the first problem, a cryptogram. Encrypted text was a skill that she had made a point of picking up; it was a large part of being in the Intelligence Division.

She proceeded to skip over questions two and three - far too much math for her - before continuing on question four, a problem that involved piercing together a case on several facts. Kasumi spared a moment to glance at her teammates.

Naruto, on the far left of the room, looked like he was going through a crisis, face pale as chalk and sweating buckets. Sasuke, on the far right, looked perfectly calm and composed... but to her Uchiha-experienced eyes, he was panicking almost as much as Naruto.

Kasumi sighed again. 'Guys... hurry up and figure it out! I didn't spend hours pounding underhanded tactics and slippery plans into your thick skulls for you to blank out on me now!'

**Black**

Sasuke peered at Naruto and frowned. This wasn't good. Even from this distance, Naruto was going off the deep end. It was understandable really, but in their current situation, not in the least helpful.

The Uchiha glanced down at his test paper and snapped his attention back to himself. While Kasumi looked like she was having no problems, Sasuke himself couldn't answer any of the problems on the paper. Honestly, when were they taught this stuff anyways?

Sasuke was pretty sure they _hadn't_ been taught it. Ever

A scuffle to his right had him flicking a look at the examiner who was now scribbling something on his paper. Someone had just gotten caught, he assumed.

_"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the level of Chunin, be proud ninjas." _Was what Ibiki had said, and unbidden, his female crewmate's voice echoed in his head as well.

_"Being a ninja isn't about showing off or being heroic. That's not what our profession is about. Being a shinobi is sometimes sneaking in the dark, or assassinating a man before he knows he's been targeted, or stealing a precious artifact, or cheating in a race. Don't limit yourself with such rules."_

Kasumi hadn't been talking to him at that time - she had been trying to get Naruto to let go of the shame the dobe felt at stealing from others, getting him to understand that in their world, being able to steal was an asset, not a liability.

But, nonetheless, Sasuke realized that those words applied in this situation, too. This wasn't a test to measure their intelligence. It was far more than just that.

'Hurry up and notice Naruto!' Sasuke counseled mentally, because this was a test to see how well they could gather information with their skills. The Uchiha didn't know if Kasumi knew - knowing her, she probably did - but he wasn't worried about her.

No, the one most likely to fail their entire team was Naruto.

**Blue**

Naruto was freaking out. 'Nope!' he corrected himself as soon as the thought crossed his mind, 'I am _not_ freaking out. Kasumi-chan said freaking out is bad. No freaking out.'

But... but... but... his eyes landed on his utterly blank test paper and he had to resist the urge to leap to his feet and run around the room screaming. He didn't know how to do a single one of these problems! He was so screwed! Kasumi-chan and teme were never going to forgive him for this!

Naruto took another look at the accursed paper and gripped his head. 'This is bad! Seriously...! Seriously! SERIOUSLY!" Beads of sweat ran down his face as he quietly flipped out. 'What should I do... What should I do... What should I do... !"

Damn it, his team was counting on him! Naruto set his jaw, wiping his sweaty palms on his black pants. He couldn't give up now! But, what to do, what to do...?

Well, there was cheating, Naruto supposed. Or, he could, he didn't know, steal a test from one of the other guys. Except they would probably kick up a big racket, and Naruto didn't want that. Nah, stealing was off the list.

Which left cheating. What had the scary proctor said? Every time one of them was caught cheating, that was two points off. But that meant he could cheat four times without being disqualified, Naruto reasoned. So... cheating was the way to go!

But who to cheat off of...?

"Naruto-kun." A soft voice whispered from his right and, startled, Naruto looked up to see Hinata smiling shyly at him. "You can look at my test..."

Huh? Naruto froze, eyes widening. Was she serious?! A glance at her face told him she was dead serious.

Okay. He took a deep breath. Okay.

Naruto furrowed his brow, trying to think this through like Kasumi-chan had taught him. It could be a trap... except he didn't think Hinata would do that to him. She didn't seem like that kind of girl... and wasn't she friends with Kasumi-chan at any rate?

Yeah, Hinata wouldn't spring a trap on him. Naruto nodded decisively to himself. But still... "Hey Hinata, why are you willing to do that?" He asked, keeping his voice low.

"Because... I..." She hesitated, poking her fingers together and cheeks going even redder. Naruto found himself a bit worried; she wasn't developing a fever, was she? "I... don't want you to disappear here."

... Naruto didn't get that. At all.

"See, the 9 of us are the only rookies. We need to work together." Hinata whispered, a little hurriedly. She looked really flustered for some reason, but Naruto got this.

"Hehe... Oh, I see. I was kind of confused." Naruto grinned cheerfully at her, cerulean blue eyes brightening. "In that case, thanks a lot, Hinata!" He started to scribble down some answers, though he was careful to only write down two of them, so they wouldn't get in trouble.

Kasumi and Sasuke would get all of them, no doubt about it. All Naruto had to do was get a few of the answers, and he trusted his teammates to get the rest of the work done. He really was lucky, to be sitting next to Hinata.

"Y-You're welcome, Naruto-kun." Hinata glanced down at her desk for some reason, her face _really_ red. Naruto frowned in confusion, but let it go. He made a mental note to talk to Kasumi later about it, though.

If Hinata was sick or something, he was sure his pretty, smart teammate would be able to help her.

**Iron**

Ibiki stared imposingly at the fresh batch of genin he was testing this year. It wasn't a terrible group, he admitted grudgingly, especially the ones from his own village. For all that there were 9 rookie genin, most of them weren't doing half-bad.

Kurenai's group, the Inuzuka, Aburame, and Hyuga were cheating with some subtlety. Well, the males were cheating. The Hyuga, the Heiress, if he remembered correctly, wasn't cheating at all. Apparently, she was one of the few intelligent enough to answer most, if not all, of the questions without having to cheat.

The Inuzuka was getting his dog to peep on the shinobi around him and then writing the answers the dog relayed back to him. Effective, even if it was spotted far too easily. The Aburame was more indirect, sending out tiny bugs to cheat for him, but it was noticeable with a bit of work from someone familiar with the clan.

Asuma's group, the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka were doing okay. Ibiki was fairly certain that the Nara himself would be able to answer all of the questions if he would just overcome his natural laziness and pick up the pen and move it. The Akimichi wasn't trying at all.

It seemed that both of them were waiting for the Yamanaka to perform her jutsu and get answers for them. He had no problems with the Yamanaka Clan's jutsu - his predecessor was Yamanaka Inoichi, and he remained a legend in T&amp;I - and it looked like the little blonde girl had already picked out one of the planted chunin.

And then, there was Kakashi's group.

The Uzumaki, the Kyubi holder - Ibiki had no issues with the Jinchuriki; he judged based on what he saw with his own two eyes - had been completely alarmed in the beginning. He had managed to calm himself down in an impressive turnabout and engaged with the Hyuga Heiress.

Through some odd turn of fate, the Uzumaki had ended up next to the infatuated girl and she had offered him an opportunity to cheat. He had taken it, displaying a nice eye for opportunity, and copied down some of the answers, but not enough that it would have ever gotten either of them in trouble.

A kind heart, probably. It could get him in trouble later, but that was Kakashi's problem.

Predictably, the Uchiha had used his dojutsu to cheat. Ibiki had no true bias against the Sharingan, so long as it was used _for_ his village, not _against_ it. Upon figuring out the meaning behind the test, it had been smooth sailing for the Uchiha, who had straight out copied all of the answers.

Last of all was the Fumei, the straggler girl that had come to Konoha with her two older brothers for sanctuary. She had finished most of the questions of her own volition and turned her test over. Unremarkable, really, but that wasn't what caught Ibiki's attention.

Said little girl had her elbow propped up on the desk, her cheek cushioned against her hand. The smile on her face was soft and faint, her eyes at half-mast. But beneath those heavy eyelids, brown eyes skimmed the room, dissecting in a familiar manner.

Interesting. Most shinobi didn't obtain that level of perception until they were an experienced Chunin, with more than a few missions under their belt.

Shaking his thoughts off, Ibiki glanced at the clock. Forty-five minutes had passed. Time to start the _real_ show. "Ok. We will start the 10th question."

**Ten**

"Now, before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question."

Kasumi blinked. Added rules? The door creaked open, naturally drawing the eye of everyone in the room, and she saw that the Sand genin, Kankuro, was entering with a proctor.

"Heh. Nice timing." Ibiki scoffed. "Was your doll playing beneficial? Just sit down."

Doll? Sunagakure... they were the village with the puppet masters, right? So, this one was a puppet user, Kasumi deduced, glancing at the rest of his teammates. The girl... she had had a large metal fan strapped to her back. Most likely a wind user.

And the red-head, Gaara... her eyes landed on his gourd. It looked suspiciously like it was made out of sand. The Hidden Village of Sand... could it be that Gaara of the Desert could control sand? Was there such a thing? A bloodline?

"I'll now explain. These are the rules of desperation..." Ibiki said, black clock flapping. "First, for the 10th question, you must decide whether you will take it or not."

Humph. So, now, they had a choice, did they?

"Choose?!" The blonde girl with her hair in pigtails yelled out, "What happens if we chose not to?!"

Ibiki closed his eyes briefly. "If you chose not to, your points will be reduced to zero. You fail! Along with your two teammates."

"What does that mean?!" A genin screamed.

"Then of course we will decide to take the question!" Another added.

"And now... the other rule." Ibiki continued relentlessly. "If you chose to take it and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to take the Chunin Selection Exams again."

Kasumi stiffened, eyes widening. The hell? Was that even allowed?

"What kind of stupid rule is that?" Kiba shouted boldly. "There are guys here who have taken the Exam before!"

Kabuto. He was talking about Kabuto. Kasumi bit her bottom lip, struggling to keep her face impassive. Oh, she did _not_ like that slimy snake.

Ibiki began to laugh darkly, smirk sinister. "You guys were unlucky. This year it's my rules. But I am giving you a way out."

Uh-oh. Kasumi burrowed her brow. She knew this tactic. A potential for pain, a pleasurable bait... a good tactic for getting weak-willed individuals to break.

"Those that aren't confident can choose not to take it and try again next year." Aaand, there it was. There was second of taunt silence. "Now let's begin the 10th question. Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave."

'One of the planted shinobi will be the first ones,' Kasumi thought to herself, breathing in and out rhythmically. Now wasn't the time to lose her composure. 'The mob mentality will follow... but the true question is whether Team 7 will stay or leave.'

A hand rose in the air, trembling slightly. In an instant, every eye in the room was focused on the 'genin' with a goatee. "I... won't take it!" He called out. "I'm sorry... Genhai, Inoho..."

"Number 50, fail!" An examiner called out, making a mark on his paper. "130, 111, also fail!"

The quitter's teammates rose to their feet, faces a mix of anger and resignation. "Damn it!" Number 50 bent over his desk, heedless of Naruto's wide eyes.

"Me, too!" And, as expected, now that one of the genin had quit, others followed.

"And me!"

"Sorry guys..."

"I quit."

"Me too."

Kasumi tilted back her chair, ignoring the glances of the people next to her, and searched out her teammates in the crowd. If one of them wanted to quit, she would quit. Her eyes found Sasuke's first.

His coal black eyes were calm. When she cocked her head in question, he smirked confidently, shooting her a look that said don't-be-ridiculous-of-course-we're-not-leaving. Kasumi smiled faintly, not surprised. Sasuke would be Sasuke.

Turning her head, she skimmed the room until she found eyes of cerulean blue. Naruto was shaking somewhat, but when Kasumi raised an eyebrow, he grinned back at her that sunny grin and gave her a thumbs-up. Naruto would be Naruto.

Fine. Smile widening, Kasumi let the legs of her chair fall back to the floor and turned to meet the harsh gaze of Ibiki. Team 7 was staying, no matter what he was saying.

And, oh, he was saying quite a lot.

"I'll ask you all again. Your life is riding this decision. This is your last chance to quit." He pushed. "Does anyone else want to quit?"

"..."

"No one?"

"..."

"Last chance."

"..."

"Are you _positive_?"

At this, Kasumi arched a fair eyebrow, chocolate eyes flashing. _'Bring it,'_ She challenged mentally, utterly fearless at this moment, because... because...

She had Team 7 backing her up. She had Naruto and Sasuke. They were in this together, and she wasn't... she wasn't afraid. Not of this choice, no matter the consequences.

Ibiki cleared the room with his gaze and appeared to like what he saw. "Good decisions. Now to everyone still remaining... I congratulate you on passing the first Exam!"

Kasumi froze. What...?!

Ino vocalized what was running through her mind. "Wait, what do you mean? What about the 10th question?!"

"There never was such a thing." He grinned suddenly, a wide, almost honest grin. "Or you could say that these two choices were the 10th question."

_Oh_. Kasumi sighed slowly in relief, placing her hands over her heart. It was like an invisible weight had been taken off her shoulders. Their gamble had paid off. It was okay... everything was okay. She said nothing as Ibiki went ahead and explained the whole point of the test to the rest of the group, focusing on stabilizing her equilibrium.

At least until...

"Basically the premise of this test is to cheat." Ibiki said bluntly. "But those that cheat poorly fail, of course." He reached up, untying his bandanna and letting it fall to the floor.

Kasumi paled, restraining a gasp. Oh, God...

"Because... at times, information is more important than life... and on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it." Various burns, screw holes, and scars littered Ibiki's skull, an aftermath of terrible torture.

'This is what could happen to me.' The thought came to her without warning, a reminder of her goal. Almost instinctively, her eyes found Sasuke's and then Naruto's. Her male teammates looked equal parts horrified and worried, confirming her prediction that they had guessed as well.

Ibiki Morino. He could have been her idol, if she was the type of girl to have such things: head of the Torture and Interrogation Division, valuable member of the Konohagakure Intelligence Department, accomplished jounin.

If she had been the type to dream of someone she wanted to emulate, he would have fit every one of her standards. Cunning, brilliant, frightening, powerful.

And yet...

Kasumi closed her eyes momentarily. It was a bittersweet encounter.

* * *

_Next time:_

_"Kasumi-chan? Are you okay? You look kind of pale." Naruto fussed the second they were out of earshot. Sasuke didn't say anything but fixed her with a burning onyx stare that said he knew she was hiding something._

* * *

**Me: And the first exam is over! The second one's coming up next... Mwahahaha. Okay. Reviews!~**

**Anime hotty lover. 18: Yup! It's a guarantee that anyone who puts down Naruto's dream is very bad guy. Thanks for the lovely review, darling!**

**Rosy Fire: Mm-hm, wrath fits pretty well. XD, thank you so much!**

**rinievermilion: Yup, Chunin Exams! We'll see how they do. As for Kabuto, hmm, who knows? ;D. King of the Deadly Sins? Lolz, mmkay. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Shiki Uploadz: Well, you seem to like bringing up the subject. XP, pride? Makes sense... thanks for the review!**

**starrat: Yup, yup! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy this one!**

**Fireboy19795: Lolz, lovely analysis. Pride fits our Kasumi-chan pretty well! Thanks for the review, hun!**

**wookiee. cookie: And the tension continues to rise! Also, thank you very much. :3**

**Arianna Le Fey: Hmm... maybe? Lolz, we'll have to wait and see! Thanks for the review, darling!**

**ShadowPhoenix34: Wrath, I think I can see. Envy...I'm not quite sure who Kasumi envies. The people who had a good childhood, maybe? Thanks for the review!**

**BurnedSpy: No worries! I go by the manga, so that never existed anyway. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**ewaa: Soon... Soon. Patience. XD, thanks for the review!**

**sebastianm101: Why, thank you! I'm so happy you like my story. As for Kabuto... hmm, we'll see. Thanks for the review!**

**MylaUchiha: Well, lolz, she does have a bit of teenage vanity, doesn't she? Yup, the Forest of Death is coming up! Thanks for the review, darling!**

**lifethroughanotherseyes: Makes sense. XD**

**lostfeather1: Yup, Kasumi's the one who senses the threats. Pride does seem to suit her, doesn't it? Thanks for the lovely review, hun! Hope you enjoy this chapter~**

**hey: Mm-hm. Pride suits her. Second Exam is coming up! Thanks for the review!**

**LateNightOwl: Yes, yes, she will do her best to stay away from him. Wrath, hmm? Well, she does have a temper, as Sasuke and Naruto learn constantly... thanks for the lovely review!~**

**FleurSuoh: Thank you very much! Here's the next chapter, please enjoy!**

**TheQueenofGoodbyes: Greed, hmm? That's a new one, though I can absolutely see where you're coming from. I'm not quite sure who she envies at the current moment, but wrath certainly does suit her. Thanks for the wonderful review, hun!**

**purplesmurf712: Yes, both wrath and pride could fit with Kasumi's character. I'll do my best and thank you for the review, sweetie!**

**midnight. demonchild: Lolz, I think you're not the only one. Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy!~**

**Guest: Oh, you're not the first one to suggest the idea. Maybe after the Chunin Exams, they'll be a bit busy for a while now. But, sometimes, it's nice to see things from another POV, hmm? Kasumi's no mind reader, she certainly doesn't know what's going on all the time. Thanks for the lovely review, darling!**

**Guest: Mostly. Mostly. XD, Kakashi...well, that guy's going through some trouble of his own, but he'll adapt. Hiroshi'll show up later, but if you'd like, there's a short chapter on him in Facets of Color, another story of mine. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Me: Okay! My blog's still not working, so ignore that. Thanks to my fantastic betas and review!**

**Question: If Kasumi existed in this world - computers, phones, chakraless and all - what career would she end up in?**


	25. Second

**Me: I do not own Naruto. ^_^**

* * *

**#2**

'Anko Mitarashi,' Kasumi thought, eyeing the purple-haired woman who had crashed through a window and very elaborately set up a sign behind her with kunai, 'reminds me of Naruto-san.'

It was an exasperating thought. Especially as she reminded her of Naruto before he had been dragged into Team 7.

"69?!" She exclaimed in disbelief, turning to Ibiki, who had dryly informed her of her bad timing. "Ibiki! You left 23 teams?! The test was too easy this time!"

"This time, there are a lot of out-standing ones." He justified.

"Bah, that's fine." Anko waved it off. "I'll at least cut them in half during the second Exam."

Kasumi wanted to groan. That didn't sound safe at all. And the bad feeling in the back of her mind was starting to intensify.

"Ahh... I'm getting excited." Indeed, she was starting to tremble. "I'll explain everything after we've changed places. Follow me!"

As the genin obediently got to their feet and started to trickle out of the room, Kasumi slipped in between Naruto and Sasuke, who were waiting for her near the doorway. "We passed the first Exam." She sighed softly.

"Yeah! I told you we would do it, Kasumi-chan!" Naruto grinned that wide, reassuring grin at her, and slung an arm over her shoulder.

"Hn." Sasuke agreed, bumping her arm with his own lightly. "Don't go worrying for nothing."

"Hmm... don't be getting overconfident now." She cautioned. "This was only the start."

"Humph. How bad could the rest of it be?" Naruto said.

'Very, very bad...' She thought to herself but said nothing.

**FoD**

Kasumi eyed the forest before her. Tall, menacing tress. Check. Strange, creepy noises. Check. Intimidating, dangerous name. Check. Bad, bad feeling in her gut. Check.

Ah. Great.

"You'll soon find out why it's called 'The Forest of Death'." Anko grinned wickedly, brown eyes twinkling. The silence that followed that enthusiastic proclamation was tense and uncomfortable.

It was promptly broken by Kiba who shouted, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Get on with it! You think a stupid name is going to scare me?!"

'... Is it really a good idea to insult the proctor?' Kasumi wondered to herself, watching Anko's smile widen with some apprehension. 'Especially one that isn't in the least afraid of Morino Ibiki?'

"Spirited, aren't you?" In the blink of an eye, a kunai was in her hands and thrown through the air, ending up embedded in the ground near three shinobi with long black hair. Not a second later and Anko was behind Kiba, giggling.

"Kids like you are quickly killed..." She commented, happily licking at the blood leaking out of the cut on his cheek. The Inuzuka was frozen, eyes wide. "Spraying that red blood I love..."

Kasumi felt Naruto stiffen, shuffling a little closer to her, but her focus wasn't on her blond teammate, who was probably creeped out by the spectacle. No, it was in the icy fingers dancing down the spine, the unmistakable feeling of being in the presence of a predator.

What...?

Without warning, Anko's head snapped back and another kunai was in her hand, pressing against the long, _long _tongue of the grass genin that had moved up behind her silently, the previously thrown kunai in the snake-like appendage's grip. "Here's... your kunai..." He hissed, and Kasumi's face went two shades paler.

_Danger! Danger! Danger! _Her senses shrieked and unwittingly, she took a step back. What was _with_ all of the people in this year's Chunin Exams? First Kabuto and then this guy... they made her want to run far, far away, preferably into the protection of her brother or sensei.

"Oh, thank you." Anko responded, light-hearted tone almost forced now. The grass nin moved back a step and the purple-haired jounin stared threateningly at him, kunai spinning between her fingers. "But you know, don't sneak up behind me... unless you want to die."

"No... I just get excited when I see red blood..." He licked his lips obscenely, long tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Plus, you cut my precious hair, I couldn't help it..."

Kasumi dug her fingernails into her palms, aware of her heart pounding frantically inside her chest, like it wanted to leap out and escape. She tapped the heel of her boot lightly on the ground, toes twitching. Her feet wanted to move, bring her away from this place, this person. _Run! Run! Run!_

"Sorry about that." Anko said offhandedly, smile unfaltering as the other shinobi moved away. "Looks like we have a lot of bloodthirsty ones in this test. Hehehe, this should be fun."

'No. No, this isn't going to be fun,' Kasumi thought, biting the inside of her cheek, 'That one isn't a genin; can't you see?! He's dangerous, he's dangerous... to us...' Her eyes widened minutely, a bead of sweat rolling down her back. Oh. _Oh_.

"Now, before the second test, there's something I have to pass out." Anko grinned, whipping out a pile of papers, completely oblivious to Kasumi's rising panic. "You must sign these agreement forms?"

"What?" Naruto wrinkled his brow.

"There will be deaths in this one and if I don't have you sign these, it will all be my responsibility, hehe." Her grin widened, blatantly pleased by the idea of the massacre waiting to happen. "I'm going to explain the second test, then you can sign it afterwards. And then each team will check in at that booth behind me."

Kasumi partially blanked out as Anko explained the rules for the second test, mind whirling even as she fought to keep her breathing normal. It would do them no good if she showed weakness and now was hardly the time to lose her cool. What was her goal?

Keep her team alive. Stay away from Kabuto and Mr. Mile-Long-Tongue. Get a heaven and earth scroll. Arrive at the tower before disaster could fall.

Okay, okay, she could do this. She had her goals; how could she complete them? Logically, if she could stay away from the named threats, she would be able to keep her team alive. To arrive at the Tower quickly, she would need the scrolls. For speed, they would need to obtain the necessary scrolls without haste.

Now, how was she going to do that? Her mind snapped through options, desperation and urgency ramping up the pace.

Kasumi herself was the fastest combatant on the team, so in the case of a fight, she supposed she could do her best to end it rapidly. However, that sort of pressure would most likely cause accidents and result in injury. Plus, she couldn't place her hopes on meeting a team as soon as they entered the Forest.

Sasuke. He was almost as fast as her, although not quite, but, again, that was hopes and wishing and she couldn't depend on that. His specialties were fire and lightning, rather flashy, if she said so herself. Drawing attention was the _last_ thing she wanted. That was no, then.

Naruto. He was the best choice really. Disregarding his loud proclamations and orange, the prankster was a genius at stealth and traps. His shadows clones were a beautiful, _beautiful_ advantage as well. He could create several shadow clones and henge them into spiders, thereby planting mobile tracking devices on other teams.

Or... they could just snatch the scrolls before they even entered the Forest. Yes, Kasumi liked that plan the best.

As soon as Anko was done explaining, Kasumi grabbed Naruto and Sasuke's hands and dragged them off to a mostly-secluded corner.

"Kasumi-chan? Are you okay? You look kind of pale." Naruto fussed the second they were out of earshot. Sasuke didn't say anything but fixed her with a burning onyx stare that said he knew she was hiding something.

"I'm fine." She said hastily, rather disinclined to waste time. "Alright, listen up, okay?"

They exchanged a look before giving her their full attention, although Naruto still looked concerned and Sasuke was frowning slightly.

"We are staying _away_ from Kabuto-san and the grass-nin with the mile-long tongue." Kasumi said firmly, sienna eyes flashing, all but daring the boys to disagree with her. They didn't, probably because she was shivering slightly with fear.

"After we receive our scroll, we'll take the long way around to our gate, #12, and while we're at it, Naruto-san will very kindly accept the scrolls of everyone along the way. After that, it's a straight road to the Tower."

She paused for a moment. "Any questions?" Kasumi wanted to get _out_ of here. Preferably, now.

"Nope! Let's do this!" Naruto grinned at her, ever confident.

"Hn." That was a negative from Sasuke.

"Then let's go." Hopefully, things would go smoothly and nobody would get hurt. That was what an optimist would think.

But Kasumi wasn't an optimist. She was a realist. And she had the sinking notion that this would go much, much worse than the Wave Mission.

**Scrolls**

For a plan hastily conjured up on the spot, Sasuke thought to himself, it had worked quite well. But, then again, that was why Kasumi was their team strategist in the first place.

And speaking of Kasumi... he sneaked a glance at his only female teammate. She was chatting with Naruto, a small, seemingly natural smile on her pink lips, chocolate brown eyes warm and unconcerned. There was not a hint of tension in her body, her movements graceful as ever.

Her facade was almost perfectly in place. Almost.

Except ever since Team 7 had arrived at the so-called Forest of Death, Sasuke had picked up on the subtle tension that vibrated beneath her skin, the small, almost subconscious moves that she'd made not fitting in with what he knew of the kunoichi's poise. There was a practically undetectable strain of anxiety in her soft tone that made his instincts prickle.

He was pretty sure Naruto had noticed as well, hence why the dobe was now trying to put Kasumi more at ease with his boasts and teasing. It helped that with Sasuke's nonchalant posture and Kasumi's light smile and Naruto's sheer noise, none of the teams they passed suspected a thing even as Naruto robbed them all blind.

Sasuke admitted that in this one field, the dobe was an absolute _master_. He had even been looking for it, in between keeping an eye out for suspicious genin and looking unconcerned, but had seen nothing. This heist was even worth all of those hours spent hammering that stealing wasn't shameful into Naruto's thick skull.

Finally, they stopped in front of their gate and by unanimous consent, huddled close. Sasuke made sure to remain alert, well aware that they probably weren't the only ones up to no good before the test even started. "Naruto?"

The blonde stuck a hand into his pocket and slipped out two scolls with a foxy grin, a satisfied glint in his blue eyes. At any other time, Sasuke would have made a dismal comment, but he figured reluctantly that this one time, Naruto deserved the pride.

"One heaven scroll and one earth scroll." Kasumi smiled that smile that Naruto and Sasuke had very quickly learned to avoid and idly placed an earth scroll into her backpack. "Along with our original heaven scroll, we have three scrolls. Sasuke-san, keep that earth scroll. Naruto-san, transform another scroll into a fake heaven scroll and keep that please."

"Are we going straight to the Tower?" Sasuke questioned as he tucked the scroll into his pocket, Naruto doing the same after performing the Henge jutsu on a blank scroll he retrieved from his pouch.

"Yes. If we linger, there may be unnecessary attacks and problems. The sooner we get to the Tower, the sooner we will be safe and have time to rest before the next test." It was an eminently sensible response, and it told Sasuke that regardless of whatever was bothering Kasumi, her mind was working just fine.

Still, those shadows in her coffee eyes were a bit too close to terror and it took no effort at all to remember her disquiet before the Exams. Sasuke couldn't help but think that everything wasn't going to be fine, after all.

**Ambush**

Kasumi was utterly unsurprised when not sixty minutes in, they got into trouble.

"AHHH!"

"... Sounds like it's started." She murmured as they jumped through the trees.

"Yeah." A pause and then, sheepishly, "I have to take a piss."

Kasumi sighed and landed in the middle of a small clearing, Sasuke and Naruto landing on either side of her. "Bushes." She commanded, pointing at a nearby clutch.

"Got it!" Naruto disappeared into green shrubbery and left the clearing in silence. Sasuke was hardly the talkative sort, and Kasumi was too busy agonizing over the twisting of her gut to participate in small-talk.

At least, until a light tremor shook her body. Kasumi blinked, glancing up as the bushes rustled and Naruto came out with a wide, idiotic smile. "Man! So much came out! I feel great now!"

Kasumi's thoughts slammed on the break. One, Naruto would never say that in front of her - not after the amount of time she had used bad manners as an excuse for senbon practice. Two, Naruto's shuriken holster was on his left leg when he was right-handed. Three, Naruto didn't make her want to stab senbon through his neck.

"... Eeh?! Something wrong, you two?" 'Naruto' asked in concern when both Kasumi and Sasuke stayed silent.

She inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, eyes fluttering closed. Why was the universe conspiring against her? She felt like she was going to explode out of her skin from frustration. Kasumi just wanted _to get the hell out of here_. A flick of her wrist and she gripped four senbon between her fingers.

Sasuke rushed forward in a blur of motion and introduced his fist to 'Naruto's' chin in a brutal punch. The wind rustled strands of Kasumi's hair, not that she even flinched despite her closed eyes. The 'blonde' was thrown back, landing heavily against a tree.

Snapping her eyes open, Kasumi threw three senbon at the fake, the metal whistling through the air. One pierced through his shoulder, the other hit his left side, and the last pinned his shirt to the tree behind him. He spluttered. "G-Guys? What are you doing?!"

"Where's the real Naruto?" Sasuke demanded flatly.

"What are you saying all of a sudden?"

"You're acting nothing like the real Naruto. And he's right-handed. You're a fake loser who's worse than Naruto at transforming," was Sasuke's harsh evaluation.

The poser grinned, a poof of smoke surrounding him to reveal a ninja with the metal plate of the Village Hidden in Rain and a strange gas mask. "Unlucky! You figured it out, oh well! Which one of you has the scro - umph!" He cut himself off with a gasp as Kasumi snapped her arm forward, sending her last senbon directly into a pressure point.

Paralyzed, he could only pitch forward, mouth working soundlessly. Face blank with only a slight downward tilt to her lips, Kasumi strode forward and, for good measure, hit two more of his pressure points. Unless he had some obscure bloodline or jutsu, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Which he totally merited, in her opinion.

When she looked up at her remaining teammate, Sasuke was looking at her with a contemplative gaze. "You're in a bad mood." He said after a moment.

Kasumi wanted to laugh hysterically. She hadn't felt like... like hunted prey so much so since the extermination of her Clan, and she was fairly certain something catastrophic was going to happen in the next few hours, and he thought she was in a _bad mood_?!

Swallowing down the urge, she merely raised an eyebrow and said, "We should find Naruto-san."

Sasuke frowned at her, but nodded curtly and they both took off for the trees. Finding their blond teammate wasn't hard; he was tied up on the forest ground not far away and it only took a second to free him from his bounds.

"Are you alright?" Kasumi asked softly.

"Yeah! That bastard just took me by surprise."

"Then we should go."

"One of my clones met some strange girl a few minutes ago." Naruto muttered as they took to the trees once more.

Kasumi tilted her head. She had asked the blonde to create several dozens clones and spread them out to keep an eye out for danger. "Really?"

"Mm-hm. I think she was from Kusagakure." He nodded firmly. "My clone knocked her out, but we don't need her scroll, right?"

"No. Leave her be." Sasuke commanded.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto grumbled.

**Threat**

It came fifteen minutes later. By that time, Kasumi's senses had gone so haywire she was struggling to stay focused. Both Naruto and Sasuke were shooting looks at her when they thought she wasn't paying attention, so her fracturing composure wasn't as hidden as she would like.

And then she forgot all about _that_ when a terrified scream arose in her own mind. On instinct, every muscle in her body tensed as the realization hit. _He was here_.

Kasumi opened her mouth, to do what she didn't know. Yell out a warning, tell them to go faster, hit the ground, start crying... but it never came to that. An immense blast of wind hit them that exact second, blurring her world even as she dug her feet into the ground.

"More enemies?!" Sasuke shouted, but the majority of his words were blown away. The leaves swirled around them all, and, against her will, Kasumi was driven away from her teammates. The jutsu - because it _was_ a jutsu, an absurdly powerful one - sent her crashing into some bushes two dozen feet away from her original position.

Gasping at the impact, for a long moment, Kasumi simply laid there. The previous alarm had faded away to a pained resignation. _He was **here**_. What else was there to do? _He_ was so far out of their league... she didn't know what to do. She didn't know what she could do.

'But the others,' a soft, determined voice whispered, 'What about them? Naruto-san? Sasuke-san? They're in danger.' Yes... yes, they were. Kasumi bit her lip grimly, dragging herself to her feet. That's right, she couldn't give up now. Not now. What would her teammates do?

Following an instinct that was growing ever stronger, she made her way northwest and came upon her dark-haired teammate soon after. He was hiding under some bushes, though he jumped to his feet when he sensed her presence. "Kasumi."

"Sasuke-san." She said, keeping her distance. He should know better than to trust without thinking.

It seemed he hadn't forgotten her lessons in that matter. "Stay away." Sasuke demanded, holding a kunai in his hand. "What creature did we see that night in the Land of Waves?"

"A monarch butterfly." He didn't know, she thought wearily. Sasuke still thought they had a chance. He didn't _know_.

"Good." He nodded, and Kasumi didn't bother questioning him in turn. Her bloodline would have known if he was an impostor.

"Oww... you guys, alright?" Naruto came stumbling out of the trees and Kasumi's heart sank as cold frost crept into her lungs.

"Naruto! Wait a second!" Sasuke snapped. She could have told him that it was useless. "How many times did you fail the Academy?"

"Three!" 'Naruto' grinned widely, looking completely confident.

Sasuke smirked and threw his kunai. The weapon flashed through the air and the threat veered off to the left, yelping, "Whoa!"

"So... this time, it's someone good enough to dodge my attacks..." Sasuke mused.

'This someone...' Kasumi thought to herself with an eerie calm even as she stepped up to his side, 'might just kill us all. Except Sasuke-san.' She stopped abruptly, eyes widening. Where had that thought come from? This... man wanted Sasuke? Why?

'Naruto' smirked and a poof of smoke filled the clearing. "How did you know?" The grass nin who wasn't a grass nin asked curiously, tipping his straw hat. "That I was a fake."

"... Naruto-san," Kasumi said delicately, "would have denied such a fact ever happened."

"I see." He smirked, taking off his hat. "Neither tired nor ill-prepared, are we? This will be more fun than I thought."

Kasumi wanted to close her eyes and curl up in a ball. Maybe cry a bit. This one... made her heart stutter and fingers tremble. He was so very, very dangerous.

* * *

_Next time:_

_Her mind made the connection in a heartbeat. Snakes. Snakes equal bad. Stay away from snakes._

* * *

**Me: And my updates continue to be utterly sporadic. I really should chase down my muse, but I've gotten caught up in stuff lately. Hmm. Well, reviews~**

**Rosy Fire: Ah yes, Kasumi would be a good interrogator. Nope, the girl really isn't the type to give in or back down. But then, that's sorta Team 7 as a whole. ;D, thanks for the review, hun!**

**Anime hotty lover. 18: Yup, Kasumi's lessons seem to have had some impact at least. Thank you, I will do my very best!**

**TamashinoSuzume: Hmm... secretary sounds fitting. Kasumi would make a very efficient, hardworking secretary, I think. Thanks for the lovely review!**

**BurnedSpy: I think they would both fit! Thanks for the review, hun, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**MadnessIsAMust: To be honest, probably not, since I follow the anime. It's much easier to write according to something that stays still for however long it needs to, though, Team 7 really does get the strangest missions. Ooh, a hacker! I should write a one-shot on that. Thank you very much for reviewing, lolz.**

**starrat: Thank you, hope you enjoy this one, too!**

**ShikiUploadz: Nope, I think you're the most insistent on the siscon thing. True, true, though I haven't quite decided if she'll end up Tsunade's pupil. Detective, hmm... thanks for the review!~**

**Arcana The Wolf: Lolz, no problemo, sweetheart. Ooh, spies with high technology...*-*. I love those stories. So many one-shot ideas... you guys'll have to remind me later on. Thank you for your very lovely review!**

**helenGet: Thank you, I'll do my best!**

**Moonlily22: I think Kasumi would be an amazing detective. Sasuke is somewhat suspicious at this point, but they have other things to worry about. Please enjoy this chapter!**

**whiteOostrawberries: Lolz, hi!~ You're very welcome.**

**SleepAroundTheClock: Definitely! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**LateNightOwl: Aww, thank you! Oooh, a doctor. Hmm... enjoy!**

**Guest: Well, she's mostly gotten over that, so don't worry. Thanks for the review!**

**Guest: Hmm...maybe? We'll see how things go. Thanks for the review!**

**wookiee. cookie: Thank you very much!**

**purplesmurf712: Yup, yup, she would be a great detective. A teacher would be another good career. Aww, thank you and I hope you enjoy this one as well!**

**TheQueenOfGoodbyes: I'd love to see how Kasumi does as a hacker. Probably terrify the wits out of all her coworkers, too. XD, thanks for the lovely review, darling!**

**LynnStark: You know... that's a good question. O.O. Let's just go with rating M cause language, violence, and my peace of mind. ^_^**

**FleurSuoh: The Forest of Death, hun, the Forest of Death. :3**

**Guest: Lolz, Kasumi would be a terrifying police officer. I wonder what side of the law she'd stick on? An information broker... now, that, she'd love. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**xenocanaan: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! XD**

**MylaUchiha: Lolz, bad, bad stuff, hun. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**Alexandria Voluri: Thank you very much for all of your lovely reviews! Hmm, Mikasa? That's an interesting comparison, though I do see where you're coming from. Combination attacks are great! And fiery. Let's face it, Kakashi can be a sadistic, passive aggressive sorta guy. Kasumi and Gaara, huh? Maybe in the future, though he already has Temari. Thanks again for all of the thoughtful comments!**

**Ceralyn: Thank you very much! XD**

**Me: Phew! So many lovely reviews, thank you all! Hm... my blog is working again, so please check that out. Err... my muse is wandering away, so updates will continue to be weird. Also, my beta is wonderful! Cha~**


	26. Orochimaru

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

_Last time:_

_"I see." He smirked, taking off his hat. "Neither tired nor ill-prepared, are we? This will be more fun than I thought."_

_Kasumi wanted to close her eyes and curl up in a ball. Maybe cry a bit_.

* * *

**Snake**

"You want my earth scroll, right?" The genin-who-wasn't-a-genin said with a smirk, holding up the scroll for them to see, "Since you guys have the heaven scroll." Without preamble, his long tongue wrapped around the scroll and he _swallowed_ it whole, even licking his lips after the deed was done.

"Now, let's begin," He breathed, finger on his eye, "the battle for each other's scrolls..."

Kasumi could have told him that there was no need. That they already had an earth scroll, that they had an extra heaven scroll they could give him if that was what he wanted. She could have said that.

But she didn't. Because this man didn't _want_ their scroll. He wanted a fight. He wanted Sasuke.

And Kasumi couldn't give him Sasuke.

"With our lives on the line." He inserted a finger into his eye socket and pulled down his skin, like it was wrinkling paper, like he was a rotting corpse.

Kasumi was no stranger to killing intent. She had experienced it before, of course, with Zabuza and Haku, and even before that, with those experienced, prejudiced ninja aiming to kill her and her family. She had been under the force called killing intent before.

There was killing intent. And then, there was _killing intent. _This was most definitely the latter. Cuts appeared everywhere on her body, her own blood vibrant crimson in the air. Pain seared down her body; a kunai was stuck in her forehead. The air was faintly pink, the world drenched in monochrome. She couldn't move. She couldn't scream. _She couldn't breathe._

This was terror. Madness. Death.

It was like being face to face with the Shinigami. You knew you should move. Should run away as fast as you could. Should try and live, try and survive. But... for those brief seconds as you came face to face with Death itself, all you could do was freeze and tremble. And that was exactly what she did, all that she could do.

"Guu! Blaah!" Sasuke gasped, fell down to all fours, and threw up on the ground.

Kasumi was vaguely aware that she had slid down to her knees as well, but most of her concentration was on not fainting.

"Kasumi..." She heard him whisper and in that whisper, she heard the realization that had hit her long before. Sasuke was starting to understand their situation. Just like back in the Land of Waves, when they were facing Zabuza.

Except that had been Zabuza then. And Kakashi, their strong, protective sensei, had been there, a comforting shield against the murder of the Demon of the Hidden Mist. This time, they were on their own.

And they were going to die.

"Hehe... you can no longer move." Their opponent observed with a satisfied smirk.

They were going to die.

Sasuke hauled himself to a crouch beside her, a kunai raised in the air although his entire body was trembling.

_They were going to die._

But... Kasumi wasn't ready to die. She couldn't do that to Hiroshi-nii-san. She couldn't do that to Naruto-san. She couldn't do that to Sasuke-san.

She didn't want to die.

_So don't. _Came the response of the part her mind that was still working, and just like that, she could move again. And so when the Grass nin threw two kunai at them, she didn't need Sasuke's help to spring to her feet and up and away, leaving a smoke bomb on the ground. Killing intent was fear and pain. Kasumi knew both intimately, and she would _not_ let them dominate her.

Not when she wasn't ready to die in this world.

Droplets of blood were left on the ground as they left through the trees, pouring on the speed as best they could with the lingering effects of the killing intent still running through their systems. Five minutes later, Kasumi watched with a small frown as Sasuke yanked the kunai he had stabbed into his knee out, sitting against the massive branch of a tree some distance away. "Guh!"

"..." She snapped her fingers soundlessly through the Mystical Palm Technique and placed her glowing hands over the wound. Pain and blood loss could combine in spectacular ways to distract shinobi during fights; it was best to just not deal with it.

When Kasumi pulled back half a minute later, Sasuke was staring at her, a sudden, incisive realization in those striking Sharingan eyes. He leaned forward to speak quietly, lips brushing the outer edge of her ear, "This... this was what had you so worried, wasn't it?"

She sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "Yes."

"... Why didn't you tell us?"

"I... didn't want it to be true." Kasumi whispered, admitting the truth for the first time to herself. And although understanding born of profound terror flickered across Sasuke's face, she thought to herself, 'I'm such a hypocrite. Wasn't I preaching the meaninglessness of lying to yourself not a few weeks ago? But that was before I re-woke the Tentaoira...'

It was why she had sealed it away in the first place. Her bloodline told her things that she... that no one wanted to know. To survive, to live on, you had to have hope. That was the principle of the matter, really. At rock-bottom, staring the Devil in the eye, you could have hope. The Tentaiora, more often than not, didn't allow even that.

She had _known_ that her Okaa-san and Otou-san had died. She had _known_ that Haku was dead. She had _known_ that entering the Chunin Exams would be dangerous, ever so dangerous. She had _known_ that things would change, and not for the best.

But each time, every time, she had denied it to the end, desperate for another outcome. Even now, even after meeting their opposition, Kasumi could almost fool herself into thinking they would all be able to get out of this alive and well. A miracle would fall into their laps, a star would drift from the sky, a team of Anbu would arrive to take him off of their hands.

Oh, the futility of the human heart.

A self-depreciating smile danced on her lips, pain swirling cream in her coffee eyes, but before Sasuke could say anything else, a shadow fell upon them and an alarm blared bright red in her mind. "No!" Kasumi lurched forward, grabbing Sasuke's arm and pushing off seconds before the large, brown snake smashed through the tree branch they had been resting on.

Her mind made the connection in a heartbeat. Snakes. Snakes equal bad. Stay away from snakes. Landing harshly on the ground, barely keeping from stumbling, Kasumi wrenched Sasuke to his feet and whirled around to face the snake hissing threateningly above them.

What did they have at their disposal at the moment? She didn't want them to get too close to that thing; who knew if it was poisonous? Fire, wind, water, lightning. Neither of them were fully adept with water or lightning currently. Fire and wind.

"Fire." Kasumi commanded, already forming her fingers into seals. "Low level." Wasting chakra right now could be near fatal in the future.

Sasuke didn't argue. "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" He inhaled deeply, blowing a volley of small fireballs at the snake.

Well, that was a new one. Looks like she wasn't the only one practicing new jutsu. But those would come later. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" The gust of wind, minor in comparison to some of her other ones and absolutely tiny to the one the Grass nin had attacked them with, nonetheless sent the flames flaring and slamming into the brown scales of the snake's throat.

It made a squealing sound, rearing back. Wavering around for a few seconds as if drunk, it finally crashed down against a tree, dead. Breathing a silent sign of relief despite the refusal of the warning in her mind to let up, Kasumi glanced at Sasuke and saw, to her surprise and concern, that he was shivering, face paler than normal. She moved closer, letting her upper arm brush against his in an effort of comfort.

He flicked a troubled look at her, breath coming fast and shallow, but a ghostly sound caught both of their attention. Snapping their necks around to peer back at the dead snake, they saw _cracks_ appear in the snake's back and the Grass nin break through the scales, covered in fluids Kasumi didn't want to think much about.

Oh, _Kami-sama_. Who was he?!

"You guys shouldn't relax for even a moment." He said, straightening slowly. His tongue was hanging out, eyes black and soulless. "Prey should always be trying their best to run away... In the presence of a predator, that is."

Kasumi's eyes widened, tensing instinctively as he, unknowingly, echoed her own thoughts from the start of this Accursed Exam. Quick as the snake he had been hiding in, the Grass nin was abruptly moving, his lower body that of the cold-blooded reptile. He was wrapping around the tree when she noticed that her fingers were forming seals.

... Ah. Sometimes - most of the time - her bloodline confounded even herself.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

**Orochimaru**

The combined wind jutsu tore across the forest, succeeding in throwing their opponent back. He righted himself soon enough, slithering around firm tree with an unfortunately strong grip-hold as the leaves were violently ripped from their branches, some of the smaller branches themselves breaking and adding to the windstorm of shrubbery churning through the air.

By that time, Kasumi had already nudged Sasuke into following her up to the tree branch from where Naruto stood, hand on pocket and confident grin in place. "Sorry I'm late, guys."

The Grass nin laughed lowly. "Looks like you successfully defeated that giant snake, Naruto-kun."

'... Oh. So that was what kept him,' Kasumi observed to herself, biting her bottom lip.

Sasuke gritted his teeth as they landed in a crouch beside him, hands curling into fists. "Damn it, Naruto! I know you think you're cool and here to save us, but forget it! Run away! This one is on a whole 'nother level..." He trailed off, eyes widening when he registered the hand Kasumi had risen in front of his mouth.

"It's useless, Sasuke-san." She said softly, rising to her feet. Because... she finally understood. And it was a bittersweet understanding.

"Kasumi-chan...?" Naruto questioned, taking in her expression with a frown.

"He doesn't want the scrolls. He doesn't need one of the scrolls. What he wants from us... is something entirely different." She kept to herself her growing suspicion that this man wanted something from Sasuke in particular - there was no need for any heroic or martyr like moves to curb.

"Hehehe... how did you guess, little girl?" He asked with a pleased smirk, licking his lips with that snake-like tongue.

Snake. Something in her memory pushed at her. She was forgetting something. But now wasn't the time to wander down memory lane.

"There's no way you're a genin." Kasumi said, paying no mind to the way Naruto shifted and Sasuke clenched his jaw. "Or a chunin. Perhaps not even a jounin... at least, not a special one." The wind blew between the trees, rustling her hair and cooling the sweat on her nape.

The Grass nin's smirk widened. "That would be correct, Fumei Kasumi. I wonder... how _would_ Hidden Mist react if they knew two members of the famed Fumei Clan still lived?"

This time, Kasumi was the one who tensed, images of the horror from five years ago springing up anew. Blood and screams and death. At her side, Naruto actually growled, cerulean blue eyes flashing with the barest tint of red, "Don't you dare, you bastard!"

Sasuke said nothing, but pushed himself up to his feet, Sharingan eyes spinning. He moved slightly so that he was angled between Kasumi and the Grass ninja, the hilt of a kunai clenched tightly in his hand. She was still staggering over the mental blow, but...

"Who _are _you?" She questioned with a helpless shake of her head. There were few, _few_ people who truly knew about the veracity of her existence.

He smiled widely, eyes as cold as the snakes he emulated. "I..." The Grass-nin-who-wasn't-a-grass-nin drew up his left sleeve, revealing a swirling tattoo. He bit his finger, drawing a line of blood down his arm and over the mark, "... am Orochimaru!"

Kasumi's eyes went wide, her breath catching in her throat. Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin, Missing-Nin, S-ranked Ninja. Former student of the Hokage, on par with Princess Tsunade and Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. He was... so far out of their league that it was funny.

Hysterically funny. Kamikaze funny. Suicidal funny.

Ha. Haha. Hahahahaha.

"Kasumi-chan?!" Naruto's voice rose over the enormous gale that swirled around Orochimaru as he performed hand-seals.

She could only smile tremulously and whisper, "I... I underestimated him."

Naruto's mouth fell open and Sasuke's eyes cursed under his breath, but none of it mattered any more. Because...

"Summoning Jutsu!" Orochimaru yelled and the wind sang around him and all at once there was a gargantuan snake underneath him, brown with dark spots. Slitted yellow eyes zeroed in on the trio, its forked tongue flicking in the air.

From bad to worse, Kasumi thought to herself, wondering if this was what hysteria felt like. Bad to worse. Could it get worse than that?

She considered that for a millisecond. Probably. The wintry fog drifting into her mind was preferable to the nausea and fright, but it did seem to impend her thought processes some. She blamed it on the shock.

"Cute prey." Orochimaru purred from his new position almost twenty-feet above them, perched on top of the head of his summon. "Such cute prey."

And he was the predator about to eat them. Kasumi processed that at a rate 200% slower than usual. It would be nice for the adrenaline to kick in right about... now. Alas, things seemed determined to get worse and who was she to stop them?

Except, of course, Orochimaru, if she remembered right, had been kicked out of Konoha for illegal, highly disturbing experiments and had set his eyes on her team. Except that. Oh, and he was planning on killing them. Lovely, lovely plans.

That... really was enough of her rambling and procrastinating. Better get to work. Sighing deeply, Kasumi mentally kicked her brain into gear. There was practically no way they would be able to fight Orochimaru and win. None. Nada. Zip.

Solution #1: They could run.

Probable result: Orochimaru would exceed them in speed and kill them.

Solution #2: They could hide.

Probable result: Orochimaru would find them without any problems and kill them.

Solution #3: They could fight and hope that sheer recklessness would get them out of here alive.

Probable result: Orochimaru would 'fight' back (play with them for his own amusement until he was bored) and kill them.

... But time would be wasted and every second was one more second that someone might notice something was off and come investigate. She shrugged mentally, hyper-aware of the steady coiling of the monstrous snake, a meat-eater about to strike.

It was the best plan she had and they may as well make do.

"Naruto-san, wind. Sasuke-san, fire." Kasumi instructed, mind furiously making and deleting battle plans. Speed was a no-no. So was close combat. If they could ward off Orochimaru enough with jutsu...

She politely ignored the part of her mind that pointed out he was a Sannin, as powerful as the Hokage, and doubtlessly, an expert of jutsu. She was allowed to be hopeful and optimistic and naive. If only for a while. Maybe crossing her fingers after she was finished with her hand-seals would help?

Kami-sama, she was _so_ desperate.

"Got it!" Naruto grinned, relieved now that his female teammate wasn't acting strange anymore. His face held only fierce determination and resolve, cerulean eyes bright and clear. "Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique!" There was a strain of grim resignation in Sasuke's voice that Kasumi recognized in her heart, an understanding that Naruto would probably never acknowledge. It was the understanding that there could only be one ending to this match, no matter what they did.

And yet, as prey must inevitably struggle and run and hide and fight when faced with a ravenous predator, so they couldn't simply give up and accept their fate.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" There was a "whoosh" as the fire and wind combined to burst forward in a massive firestorm, incinerating the obstacles in its way as it rushed forward in waves of heat and destruction. Kasumi instinctively threw her arms over her face, turning her face away from the source of all that fever.

Orochimaru merely smirked, laughed that chilling death, and bought up his hands, weaving through hand-seals so fast his fingers were a blur. "Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave." He inhaled deeply and spit out a shocking amount of water, wiping away their fire in a moment and effortlessly beginning to flood the clearing.

"Shit." Sasuke glanced down at the waves licking at the tree trunks, climbing steadily and mercilessly. "High ground! Go for the high ground!"

In unison, they leapt for the upper tree branches, chakra enhanced boots sticking to the bark. They had barely cleared the peril of the liquid danger beneath them when there was a black and yellow shade and Orochimaru was _right in front of them_, a feral smirk stretching across his face.

Kasumi only had time to gasp in surprise before his foot brutally connected with her stomach, sending her slamming towards the ground at terrifying speeds. However, seeing as this was a forest, there was, naturally, several obstacles between her and the veritable pond beneath her.

And those "obstacles" turned out to be the very thick, very strong tree branches that she had flown by hardly ten seconds ago. The sheer force and velocity of her descent was enough for those branches to break beneath her, but not before the impacts sent white stars bursting in front of her eyes and knocked the breath out of her.

Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, Kasumi had scarcely the sense of mind to right herself and maneuver her limbs into the correct diving position. The water came as an icy shock, another insult to her poor, battered body.

On the positive side, it cleared away the haze of fear and pain from her mind. On the negative side, she was now in danger from suffering pneumonia and her muscles were already cramping up.

For what felt like a second but could have been an eternity, she floated in the small pond, eyes fluttering closed. It was so cold… and she was so tired. It would be okay if she rested for a minute or two, right…? Just one second. A cloud of bubbles rose to the surface from her lips. One more minute... that was... okay, right...?

_Naruto-san. Sasuke-san._

No. No, it wouldn't be okay. What was she thinking? 'Get a grip!' Kasumi barked at herself, frustrated with her own weakness. What was she _doing_?!

Clenching her jaw so tightly it was almost another source of pain, she gathered up her wits and swam up to the surface, breaking through with a relieved gasp. Kasumi revved up her mind and chakra, and got to her hands and knees on top of the water's top. She took a deep breath and winced, feeling a sharp throb radiate from her side.

Pushing through the pain, a whoosh of air caught her attention and she looked up just in time to see Naruto falling towards her, clearly unconscious. Her eyes widened and without a second thought, she built up chakra in her feet, releasing it in a burst to rocket off the basin and snatch her blonde teammate out of the air, taking no notice of the pain that coursed like liquid fire through her veins.

Definitely a broken rib or two.

Landing on a nearby tree, Kasumi cast a quick glance around, her ingrained training rising to the forefront. Orochimaru still stood on his pet snake, but his face… his face was burned, deeply burned.

'No, not his face,' She corrected herself, feeling for a pulse on Naruto's neck. 'His _mask_.' Underneath that wrinkly, crumbling layer, she could see part of his true face, pale and with such horrifying eyes.

A steady beat met her inquisitive fingers and Kasumi's shoulders slumped slightly. Naruto was alive. She had no idea what Orochimaru had done to him, but he was alive.

And Sasuke… Sasuke crouched on a tree to her left, blazing Sharingan eyes darting between her and Orochimaru. His body language screamed exhaustion and he was panting heavily, but he was alive. That was honestly all that Kasumi cared about at this point.

"Hehe… so the little Fumei is still alive?" Orochimaru smirked, as if her life and death meant less to him than that of a bug, except, perhaps, she provided more entertainment. "But, yes, it is Sasuke-kun who holds the most talent in this team. You really are _his_ brother…"

Sasuke's eyes widened, stiffening visibly. "Itachi?! You know Itachi?!"

"Of course. And if you want power…" Orochimaru made a single hand-seal, and Kasumi went motionless as her alarms went crazy, their shrieking like nails against a blackboard. Setting Naruto against the truck, she took a hesitant step forward.

"… you will seek me out." Orochimaru's neck elongated, his head jerking forward unexpectedly, and he was fast. So fast. Kasumi was air-borne, aimed to intercept the Snake Sannin and her paralyzed teammate, but she could already tell she wouldn't make it.

He was so _fast_. And she was so _slow_.

The S-ranked ninja sank his teeth into Sasuke's neck and sprang back, feet starting to sink into the ground. Not two seconds later, Kasumi landed next to Sasuke and braced him when he lurched forward, face a pasty white.

The instant Kasumi touched the Uchiha, she had to fight not to flinch back. The chakra issuing from the wound at his throat felt _wrong_ to her senses, like seeing a mutilated body, smelling rancid meat, tasting poison, hearing a slaughter, or feeling a corpse.

"UGH!" Sasuke arched forward, clutching at his neck. "aaAAGGHH!"

Kasumi gritted her teeth, whirling on Orochimaru. "What did you do to him?!" Shudders wracking his body, Sasuke fell to his knees beside her, crying out. Snake venom? A jutsu? Some obscure technique?

Halfway gone into the ground, skin peeling off his face, Orochimaru said, "I gave him a going away present," and was gone, leaving her with one unconscious teammate, one teammate in dreadful pain, and the most cruel helplessness searing through her veins.

* * *

_Next time:_

_Naruto and Sasuke were still out._

_Kasumi wouldn't let anyone touch them._

* * *

**Me: I'm sorry, guys, but my muse just won't cooperate recently. I'm off to chase off it's strange ideas...~**

**byakugone: Lolz, yup! I'm so happy you like my story, hun! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.**

**Phususaur: Ah, really? I'll make sure to work on it, thanks for the feedback! **

**Anime hotty lover. 18: Lolz, right! Danger senses are really useful in the shinobi world. Thanks for the review, darling!**

**ShadowPhoenix14: Well, they tried! And then they failed... Thanks for the review!**

** VampireSiren: Yeah, unfortunately for Team 7. They...tried to run and then fight. It didn't really work out well. Thanks for the lovely review!**

**Rosy Fire: Lolz, cliffhangers are the point! But no worries, we got to the fight. But now how will Kasumi deal with this...*crackles evilly* Thanks for the review!**

**bonitalito: Mm-hm, that becomes a weakness, sorta. Hmm, training with Tsunade? We'll see if we get there. XD, thanks for the review!**

**LynnStark: Nope, it's good old Orochi. He's a meanie.**

**wookie. cookie: Lolz, they get beaten up. ;D**

**xenocanaan: Thank you! Hope you enjoy this one as well!**

**A Love So Strong: Hmm...maybe. :P. Super-heroine? Well, the higher you go, the longer the fall. Thanks for the review!**

**BurnedSpy: Well, Orochi considered it, but gave Sasuke the mark in the end. The Sharingan is just too hax for him to resist. Thanks for the review, hun!**

**starrat: Thank you very much! Hope you enjoy this chapter, too!**

**Guest: You're very welcome! Err... I don't have update intervals. I mostly update on the weekends, but I have other stories and I only update once per week. And my muse has been running off, too. Thanks for the review!**

**ShikiUploadz: *shrugs* Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. XD, Thanks for the review!**

**FleurSuoh: You got it!~**

**LateNightOwl: Mwahahaha...sorry, they're gone. Chocolate would be wonderful, but alas, they've run off and I'm right behind them! Thanks for the lovely review, hun, but I don't think they'll be coming back.**

**RedHairedOctavia: Oh, thank you! Hmm, the tournament, right? Guess we'll just have to see! Lolz, the curse mark ended up on Sasuke cause Orochi just couldn't resist. Her intuition is a double-edged sword at the moment, but it's a good weapon. Thanks for the splendid review, sweetie!**

**Alexandria Volturi: Aww, thank you! Her bloodline is basically an extreme intuition that notifies her on future danger. More explanation will be given later, but thanks for the reviews!**

**zahra. hardian: Lolz, I'm glad you think so, but Kasumi isn't an SI. She just has a strange bloodline. But I'm glad you like my story anyway. Thanks for the reviews!**

**lolistarkiller: Oh yes, he knows. And taunts her with it. I shall do my best, but my muse is running away! Thanks for the review, darling!**

**Good Omens: *-*, you wrote an omake!? For me?! Thank you so much, feel free to post it; I think it's wonderful! Thank you so, so much, sweetheart!**

**Marie: Mm-hm, and things are only getting worse...thanks for the review, hun!**

**SmillyReaper: Alright! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Guest: Why, thank you! XD**

**Guest: Hmm, well I'll try. She certainly won't beg if Sasuke chooses to leave. Kasumi's too proud for that. Thanks for the feedback, hun!**

**SoulXHunter: Aww, your review made my day! Lolz, I know what you mean by random fits of psychotic laughter. My family's used to it by now. I hope you like this chapter as well! Thank you so much for the amazing review!**

**scotsandspock: I'm glad you like my story! I'll do my best and thank you for the review, hun!**

**Me: Whew, so many reviews, you guys are wonderful! Like I said, it's really hard for me to find inspiration these days among the rest of the chaos in my life, so updates will be sporadic and there might be a hiatus somewhere in the future.**

**But thanks to my great beta and until next time~**


	27. Sound

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

_Last time:_

_Halfway gone into the ground, skin peeling off his face, Orochimaru said, "I gave him a going away present," and was gone._

_Leaving her with one unconscious teammate, one teammate in dreadful pain, and the most cruel helplessness searing through her veins._

* * *

**Shelter**

Sasuke wouldn't stop _screaming_.

"UHHH!" He clutched at his head, dark eyes wide with pain and terror. "GAAH!"

Cursing fluidly underneath her breath, Kasumi swiftly dismissed Orochimaru from her thoughts. He had gotten what he wanted; he wasn't going to come back and deal with puny genin like them. Weaving her fingers with his, she let him grip her hands, although his hold was so tight her bones screamed in protest.

"Sssh." She soothed, drawing him into her arms. He went willingly, a testament to his current condition, leaning heavily on her. "Ssh, Sasuke-san, it's okay. It's going to be okay." A blatant lie, but one he needed.

"GAAAH!" He muffled his scream in the fabric of her shirt, his head lying on her shoulder. "AAHH!"

Kasumi inhaled shakily, tilting her head to peer at the mark that had formed on Sasuke's neck. She recognized it as a mitsudomoe, the three tomoe eerily similar to the Sharingan. Orochimaru had _bit_ Sasuke here... so what had he done?

_"... a going away present."_

Sasuke cried out involuntarily against her neck, and, automatically, she began to run her fingers through his dark hair, whispering, "Hush. It'll be okay, Sasuke-san. It'll be okay, it'll be okay. Hush now, Sasuke-san. Everything will be okay, I promise."

She didn't think he was actually comprehending her words at the moment, the pain in his mind a giant white noise that blocked out everything else, but he seemed to find some comfort in her words, and so she continued to murmur nonsense, rocking back and forth gently.

In time, perhaps ten or fifteen minutes, Sasuke quieted down, eventually falling unconscious. Sighing, Kasumi closed her eyes briefly, feeling them sting. Beneath the veneer of calm she had constructed hastily beat an accusation: _This is your fault. Your fault, your fault._

Kasumi pushed that voice away; there were so many other things to worry about. Rising to her feet and supporting Sasuke's body weight against herself, she threw a glance at her other teammate and sighed. Naruto remained unconscious, stretched out on the tree branch she had left him on.

The kunoichi paused for a second, deliberating with herself. She couldn't carry both of her teammates to safety. But... her chakra was already so low... She sighed, shoulders falling momentarily. There wasn't a choice, not really.

Carefully maneuvering Sasuke back onto the ground, Kasumi leapt onto the dwindling-but-still-present lagoon underneath her, doing her best to ignore the pain that crashed through her system. She staggered, almost went down to her knees as the force of the agony took her breath away.

Definitely a broken rib or two, she thought. Unsurprising, considering the kick Orochimaru had so kindly decided to give to her before beating the crap out of her teammates. Hissing out a shaky breath, she forced herself to get to her feet. This was a new technique, one that Onii-san had taught her only a week ago, but it was her best option.

Forming her fingers into the tiger hand-seal, she chanted, "Water Clone Technique," and watched as a replica of herself rose from the water, brown eyes staring into her own serenely. It was like looking into a mirror, but now wasn't the time.

Kasumi nodded at her clone, she knew what to do. The clone nodded back and darted off to retrieve Naruto while she made her way to Sasuke. Hefting him onto her back, she began to jump through the trees, following a gut instinct that was most likely far more than simply instinct, her clone not far behind her.

_Northeast, two minutes. A turn to the right, eighty degrees, and ten more minutes. Roots and trees._

Kasumi didn't know where she was going or where she was going to stay, but she trusted that she would know it when she saw it. As for the physical discomfort radiating from her abdomen and sending black spots into her vision... Sasuke doubtlessly had it worse.

She had no right to place her own wants above what he needed.

**Guilt**

A fever, she judged, a hand on Sasuke's forehead. Not quite lethal, but dangerous if not treated. Kasumi settled back on her haunches, grabbing a spare shirt. Tearing it into strips, she soaked a rag with cool water from a canteen in her backpack and placed it on Sasuke's forehead.

There wasn't much else she could do. While Sakura had done her best to cover everything that they might encounter in the Chunin Exams, Kasumi's skill with medical ninjutsu was nowhere near advanced enough to lower a fever, much less something that was probably a side effect of whatever mark Orochimaru had inflicted.

Biting her lip, Kasumi shifted so she could examine Naruto. Her blonde teammate had been far more physically injured than Sasuke, no doubt a result of the Snake Sannin's strange interest in the Uchiha. But even as she gently poked at his purple bruises and fractured bones, she could _see_ them mending before her eyes. The Kyubi's doing, she assumed.

Which only left herself. Pressing her lips tightly together, Kasumi pressed lightly down on her abdomen and restrained a hiss of pain, darkness stealing across her mind. Fighting it back, she maneuvered herself into a more comfortable position. This was going to hurt.

Flipping through the seals for the Mythical Palm Technique, she found two fractured ribs and one broken. Well... damn. Pouring chakra to her fingers that manifested as a faint green glow, she managed to partially repair the broken rib and speed up the healing for the others.

Kasumi was frighteningly low on chakra, but even if she had been at full strength, she didn't think she would have been able to completely heal herself. Sakura might have been, but chakra control aside, the rosette had a talent for medical ninjutsu that Kasumi didn't mind admiring.

Maybe she would have known what to do about Sasuke's condition. Sakura had taught Kasumi about poison, but it had been a fifteen minute session, and, in any case, this didn't look like poison at all.

It felt like something felt far worse.

A flicker of pain caught her attention and Kasumi glanced down to see that she was digging her fingernails into her palm. She set her jaw and retrieved a roll of bandages, slowly, and with much teeth gritting and panting, wrapping it around her ribs.

That done, she pushed herself to her feet and busied herself with creating several complicated, deadly, highly overboard traps around their little hideout. Being teammates with Uzuamki Naruto had its perks, one of that which was picking up on how to create efficient, hidden, and innovative traps.

Kasumi wasn't anywhere near as imaginative or creative as Naruto, but her traps happened to be much more lethal than his. Because Naruto wasn't anywhere near as ruthless or pragmatic as Kasumi, a trait that came in handy in situations like these.

Because flares of red, red, red danced in her mind and she knew this wasn't over.

That task done, she slide down at the base of a massive root and finally let the strict control she had maintained over herself fall away. It was over, it was done, they was nothing else she could do. Kasumi buried her face in her hands, sobs wracking her body and tears streaming down her cheeks.

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. _And that was promptly followed by, _This is my fault, my fault, this is all my fault._

She had _known _that something was going to happen. She should have torn up her registration paper as soon as she had gotten it. She should have known to stay away from these thrice-damned Exams that second she saw Gaara of the Desert and the death on his hands.

She should have left, _left_ and dragged her team with her when she first laid eyes on Kabuto. She should have fled at the First Exam, where there was Morino Ibiki and the Chunin and the _safety_ of Konoha around her.

She should have told Onii-san that something was wrong, that something bad was going to happen, that _danger!danger!danger! _screamed near constantly inside her mind those few days before the start of the Exams. She should have told Kakashi-sensei to keep them far, far away from this place!

Kasumi had _known_.

She cried and cried as the sun fell down from the insultingly blue sky, blazing a trail of blood red and mocking yellow. Guilt gnawed in her stomach, drew bile up her throat until she could taste it, bitter and corrosive. _This was all her fault_.

"I'm sorry." Kasumi whispered into the quiet created by her own mistake. "_I'm_ _sorry_." It was like history was doomed to repeat itself, but then again, that was the reason this had happened in the first place, wasn't it?

Drawing herself up into the fetal position, the girl leaned listlessly against the thick wood and sniffed pitifully. Back before, long before, she had tried to warn her parents. Of the nightmares that stalked her in the darkness, of the bad, bad, bad feelings that choked up her heart.

They had _known_, too. They had to have known, her strong, perceptive Otou-san, and her beautiful, intelligent Okaa-san. Yuna had been a Fumei, she _had_ to have known. Even if her bloodline had been weaker than her daughter's, even if the warnings had been faint, she had to have _known_.

But they had done nothing. They had smiled comfortingly at Kasumi when she'd bought the topic up and gave her an ice cream cone and shooed her off to play with her older brothers who had never truly understood. Their Tentaiora had manifested as more of an action sense, much more short-term than Kasumi's.

Kasumi loved her parents, but with the mindset of a young genin, she could look back and see where they had gone wrong. They had _wanted_ to stay in Kiri, despite knowing the consequences. It had been their home, their village since birth. They had been willing to stick their head in the sand and hope it all went away, even as they trained their children for the possibility of the disaster.

Her cries, her pleas, her tears had been wiped away, soothed away, but they hadn't heard her. And eventually, her child's mind had simply decided that it was probably just her and nothing was wrong, and it was _okay_ to ignore the warnings.

They were presumably only a false alarm anyways. And now… and now…

_Now, it wasn't_.

But then again, it never had been.

"I'm sorry." Kasumi breathed, the taste of salt on her lips. The sobs had faded away into silent tears, shivers that wouldn't stop no matter how hard she tried. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Should have, would have, could have. There had been so many ways she could have diverted this catastrophe. She gripped her upper arms hard, digging her nails into her flesh until small crescent moons dotted the pale skin.

"I'm sorry." She repeated feebly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry – " Kasumi cut herself off by biting her bottom lip hard enough that she tasted blood. The rich, coppery tang mixed with the salt of her tears and made her gag.

Staggering out of the shelter of the roots, she threw up on some nearby bushes. Pulling back, she wiped a hand across her mouth and stayed that way - on her knees, head bent, eyes half-open - for a while as the moon rose high into the sky, the Queen of the Starry Night. The cold settled in, a chill that threatened to freeze her bones and stop her heart.

Whimpering softly, Kasumi limped back to her teammates and checked on their conditions. Naruto was utterly healed; he would be fine as soon as he woke up. But Sasuke…

His fever had only risen. Wrestling down the fear that howled that this was because of her, her, only her, and the desperation that begged fix this, fix this, please fix this, Kasumi replaced the cold compress on his forehead and clasped his hand in her own.

Sasuke's hand was sweaty, clammy, boiling hot in comparison to her ice cold. She squeezed lightly, felt her heart drop when she felt no response. Dimly, Kasumi thought that Sasuke would have been disappointed in her breakdown.

He would have kept his cool, would have known what to do. In his own way, Sasuke was a talented leader, an exceptional shinobi. He had certainly done far better against Orochimaru than she had, hadn't he?

Kami-sama, she was pathetic. Kasumi scoffed, cried out for the moment. Moving away, she sat on the ground in a lotus position and meditated. She had started meditating after arriving at Konoha, the therapists informing her that it would go a long way in healing the insult her mind had suffered.

It had worked – to an extent. A very small extent, but she found mediation a sedative exercise nonetheless. Breath in for seven beats, hold for seven beats, breath out for seven beats. Pause and repeat. Again.

Almost unknowingly, rather instinctively, she drew on the smallest coil of amber chakra and spread it throughout her system. Originating directly from her heart, the eighth chakra gate, it wound around her lungs, crept around her battered ribs, awakened her tired limbs; set the world into a new light.

The moon dipped low in the sky, its luminous silver glow dulling as sunrise crept closer. The stars faded from the midnight blue of the sky one by one, tendrils of warm blue stretching out coaxingly in preparation for day. And little by little, her pain, her grief, her regret faded away.

What had Kasumi been so worried about? So upset, so guilty, so burdened by? What was done, was done. A grasshopper lingered on a leaf two trees away, a raccoon scampered fifteen feet away. The tapestry had been woven, the threads dyed, the events set in motion.

She was an intruder, an alien, a spectator. This realm revolved around her and proceeded as it would please. Fumei Kasumi was not meant to interfere; she was meant to watch and _see_. The factors that made this a world had been set in place long, long ago.

No one could disturb reality. No one… not without consequences.

Shades of rose pink and grass green heralded the arrival of the sun, delicate streaks waving between black and starlight, as if in greeting. The sound of birdsong filled the air as the sun rose from the east, fiery and strong and proud.

Poise and composure back in place, Kasumi was utterly self-possessed, seated at the very edge of the opening of the shelter. A twinkle of alarm pervaded the amber of her peace, and she twitched, the first movement other than the rise and fall of her chest that she had made in hours.

A glow of warning red and she flowed gracefully to her feet, eyes of dark chocolate inscrutable and untouchable. There were no traces of tears, nothing but firm resolve on her face. Methodically, she performed a set of stretches, designed to loosen the muscles and prepare for combat.

_Three. Enemies. Approaching. Dangerous. _Came the warning, but she was prepared. The amount of amber chakra running through her veins at this point was almost dangerous, threatening to wrench her out of mortality, out of _being_, but it hadn't happened yet.

At any rate, she _needed_ her Tentaiora right now. It was the only thing keeping her emotions from overwhelming her and she couldn't let herself be overwhelmed. Not now.

Naruto and Sasuke were still out.

Kasumi wouldn't let anyone touch them.

**Sound**

A squirrel ran across the ground, heading straight towards her. Kasumi leaned against a root of the tree, sharp eyes instantly spotting the tag on its back. How cruel. What had this creature ever done to them? Sighing, she spun a senbon through her fingers and sent it thudding a centimeter in front of the furry mammal.

Squeaking, it ran away and she looked up to see three genin lingering on the outskirts of the clearing. She recognized them from the First Exam - hadn't they been the ones to attack Kabuto? She had absolutely _no_ grudge against them for doing that... but that wouldn't mean she would let them do as they pleased.

"Hehe... up all night?" The one in the middle taunted, face half-wrapped up in bandages. "But it's no longer necessary. Wake up Sasuke-kun. We want to fight him."

If not for the unnatural peace that had settled over her mind like a translucent fog, Kasumi would have sniffed in condensation. Did they really think it was going to be that easy?

"Why?" She questioned while she inwardly checked over her own condition. Her chakra reserves were back up to fifty percent; she hadn't had time to be of much use during the fight with Orochimaru. "I suppose Orochimaru is your master?"

The three sound-nin stiffened, visibly unprepared for that. They exchanged looks, seeming a bit uneasy. Ah, so they hadn't expected her to know?

"Well?" Kasumi pressed. Her physical condition was nowhere near as good as her chakra levels. Doubtless, her fractured and cracked ribs would prove to be a problem. Ditto for the various bruises that stained her pale skin.

"... Hmm... I wonder what that man is thinking..." The mummy-man muttered, confirming her suspicions that this group was the Snake Sannin's subordinates. Not surprising, if she was honest. But... from the sounds of it, just pawns.

Just pawns.

"No matter." His male teammate, the one with the spiky hair spoke up. "It's obvious she knows too much. I'll kill this girl. And I'll also kill this Sasuke guy."

"Confident." Kasumi drawled mockingly. "Or should I say... arrogant?"

He growled, jumping forward and shooting out his arms. A blast exploded from his hands, aimed down towards Kasumi, while mummy-man and the kunoichi leapt off their branch and midair... and right into her trap.

_Air_. She identified, dodging to the right with a hiss of pain as a senbon left her fingers. It cut through the small trip wire set not far away from her former position. A hail of kunai rained down from the tree above the two sound-nin, black steel glinting in the faint light.

"Damn!" Mummy man's eyes widened as he realized he wouldn't be able to dodge while airborne. He threw a hand up, making a one-handed seal with his other, and an invisible source hit the kunai, diverting them from their paths. The kunoichi helped, throwing out batches of senbon that knocked the projectiles off course.

Not that it mattered. They hadn't noticed a select few of the kunai had explosive seals wrapped around their hilts, disguised among its brethren. Now, the kunai slammed into the ground barely a few feet away from the two shinobi as they hit the ground and exploded.

Round after round after round of explosive tags lit up and did their job, the fire a curtain that obscured the two genin in heat and light, the warmth uncomfortable even from where Kasumi was standing. Since she had been so very anxious before the Exams, she had bought with her a substantial amount of tags and she had used them quite liberally.

"You bitch!" The remaining genin hissed, throwing a stream of pressurized air at her. "Air Slicer!"

Kasumi ducked swiftly underneath, feeling the wind ruffle her hair and pain explode from her chest. She ignored it in favor of forming seals. Tiger. Ox. Dog. Rabbit. Snake. Shuriken to the right. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Tch!" He clenched his teeth upon seeing the massive gust now heading towards him. "Air Slicer!" The two wind-based jutsu collided against each other, both vying for dominance.

"Ugh." Kasumi hissed under her breath, pouring in chakra to increase the force of her jutsu.

"Argh!" Her opponent evidently did the same, his concentration utter and absolute on winning this battle of wills... which was why he didn't notice the trap activate. As the small clearing she had chosen for a shelter was quite versatile in its trap-positions, a barrage of senbon came from him from behind.

"Shit!" The sound genin hurled himself in the air and the majority senbon fell on the area he had previously occupied. No matter. He was now fair game. Applying a careful amount of chakra, Kasumi pushed off from the ground and, before he could react, kicked a booted foot into his stomach.

It just so happened that, as part of the week of hell training she had forced her entire team through before the Chunin Exams, her strength had grown considerably and she had the satisfaction of hearing him cough up some blood even as her own ribs protested loudly. Not letting up, she followed up with a direct punch to the solar plexus and sent him crashing to the earth in yet another one of her traps.

The sphere of earth, already wet as was the Forest of Death's way, had quickly become a rather deadly area of quicksand with some water ninjutsu. Now, it grasped hungrily at its prey and by the time the sound genin had regained himself, he was up to his chest in quicksand.

"No!" He shouted, pressing his palms down in preparation for blowing his way out of there. But Kasumi's senbon was already whistling through the air and it buried itself in his throat. He was dead seconds later.

"Resonating Echo Drill!"

She whirled around at the call, but the damage was already done and Kasumi gasped, dropping to her knees as her stomach churned and her mind spun. Mummy-man stood not five feet away from her, heavily burned and injured. But he was still standing and alive, unlike his female teammate who laid on the ground, a smoked corpse.

"... You will pay." He promised her coldly, one eye burning with rage, but Kasumi couldn't answer.

She gasped, coughed, threw up on the ground. The world seemed to be spinning around her, all green and brown and red, and she felt a warm liquid trickle from her ear. The smell of copper filled the air and she recognized it at once.

'He burst my eardrum...' Kasumi thought, dazed. 'This isn't good...' Glancing down at the hands that were the only things keeping her from falling to the ground, she saw that they were shaking. She wasn't entirely sure she could stand up.

Mummy-man was running towards her, she noted with her messed up vision. He was running and he looked furious, his arm held out, the one with the strange metal device. He wanted to kill her.

"Kasumi!"

Oh. Oh, wasn't that Choji? She could have told him not to worry. This genin, he was so focused on her that he hadn't noticed... the glint of ninja wire at ankle height. Or, at least, not until his feet were cut straight off.

"What...?" He glanced down, shocked at the implosion of pain before dropping down into the dirt, head a mere few inches from Kasumi as she pushed herself up. He had barely begun to scream in pain before Kasumi smashed a kunai through a skull.

The clearing was silent. The world was silent.

Kasumi... almost wanted to laugh.

* * *

**Me: Ah, I'm very sorry for the long absence, but my muse really has gone away. I might return to this story sometime in the future, but for the time being, I'll just post the chapters I've already written. **

**Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me so far! Also, thanks to my incredible beta. Couldn't have done this without her.**


	28. Curse

**Me: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

_Last time:_

_The clearing was silent. The world was silent._

_Kasumi... almost wanted to laugh._

* * *

**Curse**

The silence didn't last.

A rustle, and then: "Kasumi-chan?" Choji knelt beside her, eyes wide and concerned, as kind as ever. He pointedly ignored the three corpses splayed out behind him.

"... Ah." Kasumi managed to murmur out. "... I'm okay." She was exhausted, demoralized, disgusted, but she wasn't lethally hurt.

"Troublesome." Good, old Shikamaru. He strode out from the bushes that had been their hiding place, hands tucked into his pockets nonchalantly, a subdued Ino following close behind. Perceptive dark eyes scanned Kasumi, "You sure you're okay?"

She had a set of cracked ribs, plenty of bruises, a busted eardrum, and a beautiful case of heartache but... "I'm fine, Shikamaru-san. Give me a moment." Kasumi slowly, wearily wove her fingers through the Mythical Palm Technique and raised a glowing hand to her ear.

"Man. What a drag." Shikamaru sighed, glancing around at the ruined glade. His eyes lingered on the dead Sound genin for a second and then he made a face, saying, "Kasumi. Do you know if one of them has a scroll?"

"Shikamaru!" Ino gasped, horrified at the idea of rooting around a dead body, but Kasumi was already nodding, her sense of balance gradually returning as she healed the damage.

"He was the leader." She said, nodding to the mummy-man in front of her. "So he probably has it."

"Got it." Only a minute later, Shikamaru held up a scroll, taken from the sound nin's pocket. "Earth. Damn, we need a heaven."

"Don't worry about it." Kasumi replied, struggling to her feet. Still frowning, Choji grabbed her arm and helped her up, steadying her when she wobbled. Shooting him a grateful smile, she continued, "We have two heaven scrolls and one, now two, earth scrolls. I'll give you our extra."

Shikamaru's eyes widened visibly, Choji's mouth fell open, and Ino outright gaped. "_Three _scrolls?" The blonde questioned incredulously. "But... how?!"

Kasumi trusted Shikamaru and Choji to a comparatively large extent. She had little to no experience with Ino. "Luck." She claimed, closing her eyes briefly. She was so tired. Reaching into her backpack, she retrieved a heaven scroll and tossed it to Shikamaru. "Ino-san, step to the right please. There's a trap there."

Ino squeaked, hurriedly jumping away from the danger zone. "Hey, where's Sasuke-kun - " She hurriedly cut herself off as a storm of dark chakra rose from the curved roots of the tree that had been their shelter... from Sasuke himself.

Kasumi went motionless, feeling a cold shiver run down her spine. The warnings that had finally died down after the Sound nin were all dead flared up again, flashing urgent bright red. She _knew_ her teammates. She _knew_ Sasuke.

She didn't know that chakra from her dark-haired teammate.

Biting her lip hard, she turned around, leaning partially on Choji for support, and found Sasuke up on his feet, dark, flame-like spread partway across his face and completely down his left arm. Swirling Sharingan eyes locked on her instantly, the corrosive fury in those familiar eyes frightening in a way little else could be.

"Kasumi... who did this to you?" Sasuke asked softly, a violent edge to his tone that made her heart stutter.

This wasn't the boy who had watched a butterfly spreads its wings with her. This wasn't the boy who had held her when she cried.

But it was.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino exclaimed, a bright, almost forced smile on her face. "You're awake! I'm so happy to see that you're okay!"

Those dangerous, cold eyes turned, focused on the Yamanaka. Kasumi frowned, reading the peril in his body as only someone who regularly fought with him could. He wouldn't...

"But you were hurt, weren't you? Do you need to sit down? The battle's over, Kasumi did all of the work. You don't need to worry!" She chattered on, reacting to the darkness on Sasuke's face and trying to break the tension the only way she knew how.

Because, no matter how much she was willing to give that impression, Yamanaka Ino wasn't dumb and she could sense that something was wrong with her crush, could feel the dense murkiness in his chakra.

What she didn't know was how to make things right.

What she didn't know were the consequences of being anyone but a teammate at the moment.

Beside her, Shikamaru stirred uneasily, danger sense on high alert. Choji was tense, eyes flickering from his female teammate to the Uchiha.

Sasuke's hand flexed, fisted.

He would.

_No_.

"You _are_ okay, aren't you?" Ino leaned forward, blue eyes wide and pleading. Asking for reassurance, although she didn't really know what the problem was, nor how to fix it.

Sasuke _moved_, but Kasumi was one second ahead of him. Having pushed off of Choji, she ate up the distance between her and the other kunoichi, adrenaline and chakra lending her speed. Shoving her roughly out of the way, Kasumi only barely dodged Sasuke's punch herself, her ribs screaming in protest.

Ino went sprawling in the dirt, the shocked look on her face painful, but Kasumi wasn't paying attention to that. She cupped Sasuke's face in her bloody hands, pulled him down so her eyes bore into his. There was a kind of confused puzzlement in his eyes that told her that he wasn't that gone... not yet.

"Kasumi...?" He questioned softly, brow furrowing as he tried to comprehend just why she would throw herself in the path of danger... in the path of danger from _him_. He could have hit her, and it wouldn't have been pretty. Sasuke could understand that much, at least.

"Stop it." She commanded sternly, feeling the amber chakra that had been keeping her going, keeping her from collapsing starting to fade away. Any longer and there would have been side-effects, and her subconscious had recognized that, but...

Kasumi wished it would stay. Every single last one of her emotions was coming back to haunt her with a vengeance and her voice trembled. "Stop it!" She shook him lightly, her breath coming fast and harsh. "Uchiha Sasuke, stop using that chakra right now!"

Sasuke hesitated, the dark marks retreating sluggishly from his face, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough.

"Please." Her voice broke, tears stinging her eyes. Kasumi wasn't so sure she could handle this here and now. The deal with Orochimaru... his little henchman... she had just _killed_ three genin because it suited her purposes...

And now her teammate was half insane.

The hysteria threatened at the edges of her mind, but she pushed it back with the remains of the willpower at her disposal. She could have another breakdown later. Preferably when both of her teammates were physically and mentally well.

Sasuke's eyes were conflicted, but the rest of the marks receded and the Sharingan faded, leaving comforting obsidian eyes staring back at her.

Kasumi's sigh was relieved and tired both, and at last, she succumbed to the black abyss of unconscious, eyes fluttering closed, and body caving in against Sasuke's. The last thing she felt was the warmth and strength of Sasuke's arms as they automatically wrapped around her waist, keeping her from falling.

Strange how their relationship seemed mutually based on that.

**Review**

Naruto woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. He grinned, stretching his arms out. Glancing around, he was surprised to find that he was on the floor, the roof was made up of curving roots, and there was a thick scent of blood in the air.

He frowned. What the hell? Searching his memory, the blonde stilled and then jumped to his feet as the creepy guy know as Orochimaru slithered his way to the front of his mind, long-ass tongue flicking eerily. Where were his teammates?! They were okay, right?!

They had to be okay.

Panic brewing in his heart, Naruto hurried out of the little shelter-thing and was promptly blinded by the sunlight. Blinking rapidly, his eyes readjusted to the bright light after a few seconds and he blinked.

What in the name of the Ramen God was going on?!

Mind scrambled by the chaos he found, Naruto instinctively searched out his teammates first. To his relief, he found that they were both all right. Well, sort of all right. Sasuke was standing upright, the look on his face one that Naruto had never seen before.

Sheer bewilderment and disorientation mixed with flickers of guilt and pain and concern.

He was holding Kasumi in his arms, and, to Naruto's worry, their female teammate wasn't looking so good. Her shiny white hair was all over the place, matted with blood and dust. Red scratches and colorful bruises jumbled her skin, blood streaked across the pale cream. Her clothes were torn in some places, stained red in others.

Sasuke wasn't just holding Kasumi, Naruto realized with a scowl. He was holding her up, because she was _unconscious._ Uncharacteristic lines of strain creased the kunoichi's face, the frown that drifted on her lips fatigued. She looked like she had been through the wringer, his smart, kind teammate, and Naruto wanted to punch someone's face in.

That wasn't everything though.

For two, there was the Idiot Trio. But for once Shikamaru wasn't being lazy and complaining. He was actually standing straight up, a deep frown on his face, staring at Sasuke like there was something wrong with him. And Choji wasn't stuffing his face either. He looked a cross between anxious and upset, also frowning.

And Ino... Ino was on the ground a few feet away from Sasuke and Kasumi, her eyes impossibly wide and completely focused on Naruto's teammates. She looked a little scared, a little apprehensive, a little concerned. She was somewhat scratched up, too, like she had been thrown around a bit.

For three, there were the dead genin strewed around the thoroughly messed up and burned up place. Naruto might not have his teammates' keen observation skills, but he didn't have to. The senbon, the carefully placed traps, the cool ruthless pragmatism... this was Kasumi-chan's work.

But Naruto thought about what he knew of his female teammate, put it together with the wounds on her body, and decided that they probably deserved it. Kasumi wouldn't go out looking for trouble with Naruto and Sasuke in such a state, so they must have been the ones that attacked.

They totally deserved it.

"Oi, teme!" Naruto yelled, because the quiet was suffocating and uncomfortable and who better to break it up then him? "Kasumi-chan's alright, right?"

Sasuke's eyes landed on Naruto with something that might have been relief. "Hn. She's fine, dobe." He said, and if there was anything that could convince Naruto, it was the degrading but pretty affectionate nickname.

"She better be!" His grin wasn't entirely forced, but it wasn't entirely real. Naruto linked his hands behind his head. "So, what happened here?"

Shikamaru sighed, shoulders drooping again. "Troublesome. Naruto, you sure are a piece of work."

"Hey! What does that mean?!"

**Kickoff**

"Those damn bastards!" Naruto thumped a fist into his palm after he had been caught up, cerulean eyes blazing. "I knew they had it coming!"

"Yeah, yeah." Sasuke rolled his eyes, Kasumi resting on the ground not far away. The teme looked like he had composed his 'holier-than-thou' mask - Kasumi's words - during story time and was back to normal. "We should get a move on."

"It's only been two days in." Choji said, munching at his chips.

"Yeah! What's the rush?" Ino fiddled with her hair nervously.

"We all have our scrolls, though." Shikamaru pointed out, holding the heaven scroll that Kasumi had ever-so-graciously given them in his hand. Naruto was pretty sure the Idiot Trio didn't warrant just getting their key to passing the Second Exam handed to them, but they had sort of helped his teammate so he let it pass.

"The longer we stay in this Forest, the more of a chance there will be that we'll be attacked." Sasuke said, taking over the role of strategist since Kasumi was out. "We have five scrolls in total. That's one extra; there'll be other teams that will try and target us soon enough. Not to mention the other dangers of the Forest."

"As soon as we can get to the Tower, the sooner we're safe and have time to rest." Shikamaru agreed, unknowingly echoing Kasumi's words. Naruto fought a flinch and saw Sasuke's eyes tighten.

"But... Kasumi-chan's still unconscious." Naruto said, glancing at the kunoichi in question.

"One of you carry her then." Choji suggested.

"Dobe, you do it." Sasuke commanded, already moving to retrieve their supplies.

"Shut up, teme!" Naruto retorted, but he did as told anyways. The blonde didn't know what was wrong with Sasuke - it wasn't like his teammate to try and hit Ino, no matter how annoying she might be - but he thought it was best he had Kasumi-chan for the time being.

He didn't think Sasuke would try and hurt their teammate, but, like she always said, better safe than sorry. Beside, Naruto rather thought Kasumi would approve, although she wouldn't be happy she needed protection from Sasuke in the first place.

Scooping her up in his arms, Naruto frowned at how light Kasumi felt like in his arms. He hoped they got to the Tower soon.

**Arrival**

As it turned out, Kasumi woke up an hour later when the combined group was nearly at the Tower. Even before she opened her eyes, she was aware of the wind rushing past her face, the feeling of moving at a fast pace.

"... Naruto-san." She said sleepily, eyes focusing drowsily on the shock of bright yellow and pure blue.

"Kasumi-chan!" He glanced down, grinned that sunny grin. "You're awake! She's awake, guys!"

"Jeez. Don't wear out her ears, Naruto." She identified Shikamaru's lazy drawl with ease as Naruto pouted, grumbling under his breath about lazy bastards.

Shikamaru... Choji... Ino. Sasuke. Orochimaru. The Sound Trio.

"Is everything okay?" Kasumi asked through a yawn. The momentary nap had been very beneficial; she no longer felt like she was going to go hysterical at the slightest provocation.

"Yeah!" She had the feeling Naruto would have given her a thumbs-up if he wasn't carrying her. "You did great, Kasumi-chan!"

"Ah... put me down, Naruto-san." She protested, suddenly aware that the blonde must have already been carrying her for a while.

"Don't." Sasuke's voice interrupted, and he dropped back to appear in the corner of her eyesight. He was scowling at her, an irritated slash worried look in eyes that were consolingly obsidian and familiar. "You tired yourself out fighting those sound nin."

"You're not heavy, Kasumi-chan." Naruto reassured her. "I can barely feel your weight."

Kasumi frowned, but subsided, knowing she couldn't argue against both of her teammates when she was still so tired. The remaining journey to the Tower passed in a blur, her drifting in and out of sleep. She was scarcely cognizant of Team Seven and Team Ten changing routes several times to avoid some jeopardy or another, but that seemed faint. Faraway.

They arrived at the Tower maybe an hour a half later and Kasumi pushed weakly at Naruto's chest. "Down." She said before they entered the door. "_Down_, Naruto-san." She repeated when it looked like he was going to disagree.

Naruto frowned, but carefully released her. Kasumi's legs were rubbery and aching, but they held her weight with only a slight twinge of pain and she took a step forward, ignoring the two boys hovering over her like mother hens. Her legs didn't buckle.

Satisfied, she shot her boys a look and, looking disgruntled, they retreated. But only marginally, seeing as they still remained at arm's-length, ready to catch her if she fell. Shaking her head, Kasumi turned to Team Ten, who had watched the spectacle with varying degrees of emotion. "Ready?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, saying, "This is a drag, but I guess so."

Smiling wryly at the Nara's judgment of the situation, Kasumi propelled the door open. "Then let's go."

**Tower**

"Nobody's here.." Naruto commented, looking around the huge room they found themselves in. It looked completely ordinary, bare the occasional seals on the wall and the large scroll right in front of them.

"Look." Kasumi said, gesturing to the words on the scroll.

"If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher." Shikamaru read calmly. "If qualities of Earth are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are open together, the peerless path with be righteous forever. This... is the secret way that guides us from this place today."

"What the hell does _that_ mean?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Kasumi was silent for a moment, thinking things through. Her body might be battered, her heart hurt, but her mind was working just fine. "Shikamaru-san? You got it?"

He smirked, hands tucked into his pockets. "Sure. Heaven and Earth represent our mental and physical energies. AKA, the scrolls should be opened."

"Eeeh?!" Naruto scratched his head.

"The combination of mental and physical energy is what makes chakra, Naruto-san." Kasumi explained patiently. "Therefore, if we open both of the scrolls, something should happen."

"But won't it get us disqualified?" Ino asked.

"Nah. The crazy snake lady said we couldn't open the scrolls before we got to the Tower. We're in the Tower; that rule doesn't apply anymore." Shikamaru yawned widely, unconcerned.

"Okay. Ready, Ino?" Choji took out his scroll, and reluctantly, Ino followed.

"Kasumi-chan?" Naruto turned to her, Sasuke retrieving their earth scroll.

Kasumi handed Naruto their heaven scroll and watched as the boys - and Ino - gripped the edges of the scrolls. "Three..." Sasuke started.

"Two..." Naruto tensed.

"One!" They wrenched the scrolls open, and Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise and recognition immediately.

"Let go of the scrolls!" He shouted, throwing his own into the air. "That's a summoning jutsu!" Without a second thought, Naruto complied, and Ino and Choji didn't hesitate for more than a second either. Moments later, smoke exploded from the scrolls, and suddenly, two new chakra signatures were in the room.

"... Huh?" Naruto blinked as the smoke eventually dissipated.

"You are...?" Sasuke trailed off.

Kasumi smiled gently. "Hello, Iruka-sensei."

"Hey!" Iruka grinned, arms crossed before his chest. "Long time no see."

In the background, Kasumi could hear another chunin talking to Team Ten, no doubt the gist of what Iruka was probably going to tell them. "I suppose we pass the Second Exam, Iruka-sensei?" She asked lightly.

He chuckled despite the concern in his brown eyes as he looked her over. "That you guys do. Looks like you ran into some trouble..."

"Eeh?" Naruto sounded spectacularly confused. "Why was Iruka-sensei summoned?"

"At the end of the Second Test, it's set up so we chunin meet up with the exam takers. And I was allowed to be the one to greet you." Iruka explained. "Now, like I said before, all three of you pass the Second Test. Congratulations. To celebrate, I'd like to buy you a pound of ramen but..."

A jolt cut him off and he blinked, looking down at the orange-black genin that had just attached himself to his waist. "Huh?"

"We did it!" Naruto cheered loudly.

"H-Hey, Naruto, listen until the end..." Iruka said feebly, not that Naruto listened.

"We did it, we did it, we did it! We did it!" He threw his arms in the air, grin bright enough to light up the room. "I'm so happy!"

To this, Iruka could only smile fondly. Sighing to herself, Kasumi slid to the floor, relief weakening her muscles.

Sasuke joined her, muttering, "He sure has energy..."

"You really haven't changed in your inability to relax..." Iruka said with a mild sweatdrop.

Sasuke blinked. "Heh. I see. If we had opened the scrolls during the test, what were you going to do, Iruka-sensei?"

"As always, you are sharp, Sasuke." Iruka knelt down to roll up the scrolls. "As you may have figured out, this test's rules are set up to test your abilities to perform missions correctly. So if you were to break these rules and open the scrolls, you would be put unconscious for the remaining of the test period. Those were my orders."

Naruto grinned, settling down next to them. "Heh! We were never tempted at all, Iruka-sensei! We even have an extra scroll!"

"Oh?" Iruka looked honestly surprised and Kasumi let out a tired giggle. Reaching into her backpack, she threw him the heaven scroll they hadn't used.

"Well, well, well." He smiled proudly. "I'm impressed. And it's only the second day, too."

Kasumi sighed. "I don't suppose we're allowed medical help, Iruka-sensei?"

"Ah." He winced, rubbing the back of his head. "No, I'm sorry."

"That sucks." Was Naruto's concise response.

"It does. Any chance you've figured out the missing word here?" Iruka turned to the scroll.

"It's that character on those scrolls, right?" Kasumi nodded towards the scrolls in Iruka's hands. "Person. Us genin."

Iruka grinned encouragingly, "Absolutely correct, Kasumi. These five days of survival were to test the exam taker's basic abilities needed to become a chunin... and you guys successfully passed that. Chunin's are at the rank of military captain, you have the responsibility of guiding a team. The knowledge, stamina, and inner wisdom, all are needed for your duties."

"I want you guys to challenge the next step with the chunin motto in mind." He met each of their eyes with his own squarely. "That is all that I have to pass on to you."

Naruto saluted with a grin, standing up. "Roger!"

"Great! Ah. Izumo, are you done?" The other chunin had wandered over, the one that, again, looked suspiciously like one of the 'genin' guarding the false '301' door.

He grinned. "Yeah. You willing to take over?" He pointed at Team Ten, who was also wandering over.

Iruka looked exasperated. "Sure, sure." The other chunin, most likely his friend, copied Naruto and saluted with a grin on his face before disappearing with a poof of smoke. Their Academy sensei turned back to them, "I'll lead you all to the rooms you'll be resting in here."

"Will there be bathrooms?" Ino frowned at the state of her clothes.

"I'd like a shower, too." Kasumi added, eyeing her hair with disgust.

The girls exchanged a knowing smile, while their teammates looked blankly at each other.

Iruka laughed. "Sure. Come on, this way."

And off they went.


	29. Report

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

_Last time:_

_Iruka laughed. "Sure. Come on, this way."_

_And off they went._

* * *

**Boot**

"Yeesh!" Naruto threw himself onto his bed with a grin, hands behind his head. "We're finally out of that darn Forest."

"Hn." Sasuke sat down on his bed, hand clapped over his neck.

"Does it hurt?" Kasumi questioned with a frown, settling down on her own bed and wrapping her arms around her bent legs.

Naruto sat up, also frowning at the Uchiha. With everything that had been happening, they hadn't had a chance to talk about their encounter with Orochimaru and the mark he had placed on Sasuke.

Sasuke grimaced. "... Yeah."

"How bad?"

"... Bad." He admitted reluctantly.

Kasumi sighed, biting her lip. Speaking of... "Naruto-san. What did Orochimaru do to you when I was preoccupied?" AKA, almost drowned in a mini lagoon.

"Oh." Naruto wrinkled up his forehead, hand coming to rest on his stomach. "He... uh... did this weird thing with his fingers."

She could guess well enough the area of interference. Damn. The Kyubi's Seal was nothing to mess around with. "And your chakra?"

"Sluggish. Weird." He reported unhappily.

"Sasuke-san?"

Sasuke shrugged a bit. "My chakra feels weird, too." He hesitated. "Especially... back in the Forest..."

They all knew which incident he was referring to. Kasumi rocked back, sighing again. Of course her teammates had problems she couldn't even touch on, much less help. But before she could say anything, the door was abruptly slammed open with a loud bang, and they each reached for a kunai on reflex.

Kiba sauntered in with a smirk. "Well, well, well. Look at that! You guys passed, after all." At his feet, Akamaru gave a bark of agreement.

"Humph." Naruto put away his kunai and fell back down on his bed dismissively. "It's only Kiba."

His eye twitched. "What was that?!"

"... A-Ano..." Hinata stepped into the room with Shino at her side, poking her fingers timidly. Her lavender eyes fell on Kasumi and widened with horror. "K-Kasumi-chan! W-What happened?!"

"Holy shit!" Belatedly, Kiba noticed the bruises and blood on the kunoichi. "What the hell happened to you?"

Shino said nothing, but the faint buzzing that originated from him signaled his surprise and displeasure as well.

"Run in with a Sound team." Shikamaru answered from behind Team Eight before Kasumi could, walking into the room as well. Ino and Choji followed him, the Akimichi munching on a fresh bag of chips.

"It was terrible." Ino said, shuddering at the memory. They both carefully avoided mentioning the fact that said Sound team was now _dead._

"Well then, where were you two then?" Kiba swung around to point at Naruto and Sasuke, who both looked rather disgruntled, albeit to different degrees.

"Unconscious." Shikamaru said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. If Kasumi hadn't known him as well as she did, she could have thought that... he was upset at that situation as well. Which actually made some sense, considering Ino had almost gotten her ribs broken, too.

"Tch." Kiba crossed his arms, sneering at Naruto. They had been friends back in the Academy, but he was an _Inuzuka_ and Pack loyalty was everything. He almost felt disappointed in the energetic blond. "Just what I'd expect from a dead-last."

"A-Ah... K-Kasumi-chan... ar-are you okay?" Hinata asked softly, drifting away from her team to talk to her.

Naruto jumped to his feet, cerulean blue eyes burning. "What did you say, Kiba?!" He _liked_ Kiba, but he had no idea what they had gone through, creepy snake-guy and all!

Kasumi smiled reassuringly. "I should be fine. A portion of your healing ointment wouldn't go amiss, though." After she had given the Hyuga a tub back in the Academy, Hinata had grown interested in creating ointments and successfully crafted several of her own.

"You heard me! Who's the idiot who left his teammate to do all the work?!" And gotten hurt in the process. Kiba _didn't_ like Kasumi, but, damn it, this wasn't the sort of behavior he could condone. Especially after what he had seen that Gaara guy do.

"O-Oh!" Hinata blushed, pleased. "O-Of course!"

"Shut up!" Naruto gritted his teeth, hands curling into fists. "You don't know anything!"

"Hn." Surprisingly - for Team Eight and Team Ten - Sasuke intervened, glaring at Kiba coldly. "Butt out, Kiba."

Kiba scoffed, covering up his mild surprise. "Oh, riiight. You were out, too, huh? I expected more from _you_, but I guess you're just like Naruto now."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Mind your words, Kiba."

"O-Oi!" Ino flared up, eyes flashing. "Stop it, you guys! We're not here to fight!"

"No one asked you, Ino!" Kiba volleyed back, unhappy that the blonde had decided to get involved.

Shikamaru straightened up, and Choji paused in his chip munching. Normally, they would have let Ino handle this herself - she certainly could - but they had almost watched their teammate get hurt, really _hurt_, by one who was supposed to one of their own and were edgy with that realization.

"What was that, Kiba?!" Ino drew herself up to her full height, nostrils flaring.

"Pl-Please d-don't fight..." Hinata trailed off uncertainly and Kasumi frowned at the scene. Naruto and Sasuke were furious, Kiba was upset, Shino was disapproving, Ino was angry, Shikamaru and Choji were troubled, and Hinata was anxious. The lot of them were about to come to blows right here, right now.

Sighing _again_, she seemed to be doing that a lot recently, Kasumi rose to her feet, wincing slightly at the ache from her ribs. "I'm going to take a shower." She announced when every eye automatically swiveled around to focus on her. "Ino-san, may I ask a favor?"

Ino blinked, evidently surprised. They had never had anything more than a polite, distant acquaintance, but Kasumi knew that the loud, brash Yamanaka was best suited to the job she had in mind. "What is it?"

Kasumi smiled sweetly, moving towards the bathroom every room had. "Kick the boys out, please." She said, ignoring Naruto's dropped jaw and Sasuke's irritated glare. "I think some girl time would do us all good."

Ino lit up, a wide grin stretching across her face. After days in the Forest of Death with little idea of how to survive and succeed and the disaster with Sasuke-kun, she knew how to do this. "I got you, girl." She assured Kasumi, flipping back her long blonde hair.

Kasumi nodded in gratitude and slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She cared for her boys, she really did, but sometimes, it was nice not to have to deal with their antics. Behind her, she could hear Ino shout, "You heard her, boys! Out! Not you, Hinata, you stay right there. But the rest of you, out!"

**Shower**

Kasumi didn't know precisely _how_ they got plumbing and hot water to the Tower in the middle of the Forest of Death, but she was grateful for it. Standing directly underneath the spray, she tilted her head back and closed her eyes momentarily.

So many events had happened in the past few days like tumbling dominoes - she wasn't quite sure what to think. She had already cried herself out after the encounter with Orochimaru... and directly after that she had killed three genin.

Kasumi laughed bitterly, fairly disgusted with herself for not being able to feel a whisper of genuine guilt. It reminded her of the Wave Mission, when she had slit one of the Demon Brother's throat. She hadn't felt remorse then either. For a genin... wasn't she a little too jaded?

Even Sasuke hadn't killed anyone yet. She had already killed four. She wanted to wonder at her moral values, wonder if she was jumping off the slippery slope already... but she knew that if it happened again, she wouldn't hesitate to repeat her actions.

They had been threatening her _teammates. _

The smile that curved her lips now was moderately mocking. When had Naruto and Sasuke become so important to her? She didn't know. Was she that important to them? She didn't know.

It seemed like she knew little these days.

Sometimes, Kasumi could have sworn that Fate was conspiring against Team 7. But she knew there was no such thing as fate. Or perhaps, she simply didn't believe in fate. What she did believe in was the tapestry of life, each thread woven in with a million different others to create the full picture.

How those threads were colored or where they went was up to themselves.

Twisting off the hot water because the other girls would doubtlessly want a shower as well, Kasumi dried herself off and pulled on a nude bra and underwear. She wrapped herself up in a pale towel and knocked lightly on the closed door. "Ino-san? Are the boys gone?"

"Yup!" Came the bright reply. "Boy-free zone accomplished!"

Laughing softly, Kasumi opened the door and walked out to find Ino and Hinata lounging on the beds previously occupied by Sasuke and Naruto respectively, though she was sure Hinata would blush at the implications if she bought it up. Their backpacks were on the floor and it looked like they had made themselves at home in the twenty-or-so minutes she had been in the shower.

Ino grinned cheerfully at her, blue eyes twinkling. "Took your time, did you?" The Yamanaka sounded significantly more at ease, fully acting like herself for the first time since they had met in the Forest of Death.

"Maybe." She said slyly, sitting down on the bed she had claimed for herself. "I have some cracked ribs. Hinata-san, could I borrow your medicinal cream?"

"H-Hai!"

Hinata gasped audibly and Ino paled when Kasumi let her towel fall away, exposing the dark red and black bruising on her skin. Kasumi glanced down, made a face herself. It really did look ugly without the bandages covering it.

"Jeez, Kasumi." Ino shook her head as Hinata hurriedly rummaged around her backpack for the cream. "You got yourself beat up."

She smiled sheepishly, checking her chakra levels. At this rate, she would probably be able to heal most of the damage by the time the Second Exams came to a close. "I guess so. But it _was_ Orochimaru."

"O-Orochimaru?" Hinata handed her the tub, looking confused.

"Ah! You don't know about it, do you?" Ino looked excited, falling naturally back into the role of storyteller/gossiper. "See, back in the Forest, Sasuke-kun, Naruto, and Kasumi ended up meeting..."

Kasumi listened halfheartedly as Ino bought Hinata up to speed, spreading the cream carefully over her multi-colored skin. It really was an excellent medicinal ointment, she thought to herself as some of the pain began to fade away. The damage was still there, of course, but she felt better, nonetheless.

"I-I'm glad y-you're okay, Kasumi-chan." Hinata said after Ino was finished, sounding entirely sincere.

But, then again, that was Hinata.

Kasumi smiled sweetly. "Thanks, Hinata-san. Ino-san, would you mind helping me bandage myself up?"

Ino grinned. "Sure!" Grabbing a roll of bandages, she walked over to plop herself down beside Kasumi, chattering as she worked. The topic ambled from flowers to boys to dresses to make-up, but neither Hinata nor Kasumi objected, occasionally imputing their own thoughts.

Shifting back, Ino patted her work lightly. "There! All done!"

"My thanks, Ino-san."

"Hey! Don't be so formal!" If anything, Ino was _not_ formal.

Kasumi smiled, glancing considerately at the other kunoichi. Unlike some others, she had never made much of an effort to cultivate a friendship with her. The fact that she was a member of the SUFA was deterrent enough, her being the Yamanaka Heiress only making things worse.

But it was looking more and more like the status quo known as the Rookie Nine would be staying, long-term wise. And it was apparent from the previous incident that, while outspoken and bossy, Ino was very much a sensible aspect of the three teams and, to be quite honest, Kasumi herself wouldn't mind some more female company.

Who knew? Maybe, like Sakura, once the fangirling wore off, Ino Yamanaka would be a good friend.

"You know, I ran into Sakura-san in the hospital a while back." She said casually.

Hinata blinked. "S-Sakura?"

Ino looked oddly proud. "Yeah! She's a medic apprentice now! My work obviously."

"Y-Yours, Ino?"

"Really?" Kasumi didn't know about this either.

"Mm-hm." Ino's nod was adamant. "See, when Forehead Girl's team failed, she came to me. I was the one who recommended going into the Medical Corps for her. And look at how she's turned out now!"

Ah. So that was what had happened. This time, Kasumi's smile was assessing. Yes, it looked like Ino would turn out to be a good friend, after all.

**Sleepover**

The girls ended up talking until after midnight, finding a surprising common interest in the form of flowers - Ino's family owned a flower shop, Hinata adored making flower arrangements, and Kasumi rather enjoyed their vivid beauty - and the pain of trying to keep their boys in line.

"You guys are lucky." Ino swung her legs in the air, lying on her bed with her chin propped up on her palms. "Shikamaru is soooo lazy and Choji never stops eating! We never get anything done!"

"Ah, but they get along, right?" Kasumi replied, dragging a hairbrush through her tangled hair. "Naruto-san and Sasuke-san never stop arguing. And we rarely get anything done either."

Accordingly, both of them glanced over at Hinata who squeaked. "Umm... umm... Shino-kun is always very quiet." She offered up meekly. "And Kiba-kun sometimes doesn't think before rushing in."

Ino nodded firmly, flipping around to splay her hands out. "It's official! Our boys would totally be lost without us."

Hinata giggled while Kasumi smiled, deft fingers twisting her hair into a braid. "Was there ever any doubt?"

Ino laughed, turning her head around to smirk at them. "Of course not!"

Later, around nine or so, there was a knock on the door. They paused their discussion of whether or not Hinata should grow her hair long to peer at the wood like they could see the potential intruder. There was silence for a long heartbeat as they traded glances.

Huffing, Ino swung herself off her bed and marched up to the door, wrenching it open to display a startled Naruto and an indifferent Sasuke. "What do you guys want?" She demanded, disenchanted enough with her crush and pleased enough with her new-found camaraderie with the girls that she didn't start fawning immediately.

"Umm... to sleep?" Naruto shuffled his feet, wary of the temper that had easily sent all of the boys out the door two hours previous.

Ino leaned against the doorway, glancing back at the others, a question in her eyes. Kasumi smiled smoothly, rather certain her boys could take care of themselves for a night, while Hinata was blushing tomato-red and looking anywhere but at Naruto.

The kunoichi sniffed pridefully, standing her ground. "No."

"N-No?" Naruto spluttered, eyes bulging. Even Sasuke seemed sparsely surprised.

"No." Ino said solidly. "We are going to have a sleepover and you boys can go bunk with the others."

"B-But, you can't do that!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.

"Oh yes, I can. Now, goodnight, Naruto, Sasuke-kun." And with that, Ino slammed the door in their faces and hit the lock. There was a long moment of silence while she leaned against the door and they held their breath.

Then, "Augh! Fine! Teme, I'm with Kiba and Shino. You go bother Shikamaru and Choji!"

"Hn." Sasuke sounded disgruntled, but there was the distinct sound of footsteps moving further away from them and a minute later, they were gone.

The three girls looked at each other and burst out laughing, though Kasumi was careful not to aggravate her ribs too much.

And by the end of the sleepover, Kasumi could safely, confidently say that the night had turned out much better than she had thought it would.

**Rest**

The next morning, Kasumi met up with her teammates in the small lobby area where teams received food. "Naruto-san, Sasuke-san. Good morning."

"Kasumi-chan!" Naruto wailed, sitting down in the seat to her left of the round table. "You left me with Kiba and Shino!"

"Hn." The look that Sasuke shot her was openly annoyed, suggesting that he hadn't had such a good night either.

"Gomen, gomen." She said, not in the least sorry.

From the way Naruto pouted and Sasuke scowled, they knew it, too.

But, to her slight incredulity, Sasuke dropped his vexation to scan her up and down, obsidian eyes uncomfortably perceptive. "You look happier." He stated.

Kasumi blinked. Did she?

"Yeah, you do!" Naruto beamed, heaving a dramatic sigh. "So I guess it's okay. We caught Kiba and Shino up to what happened while you guys were doing your girl talk. But, you know, Kiba snores really, really loudly."

"OI!" Came the shout from the genin in question, Team Eight sitting a couple of tables to their left.

Kasumi laughed in amusement, eyes lighting up, and Sasuke shook his head, but smirked. Naruto grinned foxily, jumping up to his feet. "It's true, Dog Breath!"

Distracted with watching the spectacle of Naruto and Kiba getting into a wrestling match on the ground while Hinata did her best to break it up without fainting, she didn't quite notice the way the Uchiha's gaze lingered for a bit on her satisfied smile.

After that, the days passed in a dizzying whirl. Kasumi gradually managed to heal her ribs as her chakra levels recovered. There was nothing any of them could do for Naruto, so she never bought it up, aware the blonde wanted the fox to be kept a secret.

Sasuke's mark though...

"It still hurts you." She said on the morning of the fourth day, watching as he rubbed at his neck.

Sasuke grunted noncommittally.

Naruto got to his feet, a frown on his face. "Oi, teme, why haven't you said anything?"

He shrugged. "It's not we can do anything about it."

Kasumi was silent for a moment. "Maybe we can."

Sasuke and Naruto snapped their heads around to stare at her, eyes wide. A flicker of hope crossed Sasuke's face.

"Really, Kasumi-chan?!" Naruto bounced up and down in place with excitement.

"Hmm. Maybe." She rose to her feet and said, "Stay here." Confused, Naruto and Sasuke did as told, and a couple of minutes later, she was back with Team Eight.

"Eeh?! Why are they here?" Naruto scratched his head.

"Hush, Naruto-san." Kasumi counseled, moving so she stood next to Sasuke. Turning to Team Eight, she said, "Hinata-san. You have the Byakugan; would you take a look at Sasuke-san's chakra system?"

"O-Okay." Hinata shuffled closer, forming a hand seal. Feeling Sasuke tense, Kasumi let her shoulder touch his in silent reassurance. "Byakugan!"

"Woah!" Naruto gaped at the veins that bulged near her temples, the pupils that appeared in her eyes. "That's so cool, Hinata!"

Hinata blushed, glancing down at her feet. Hiding her smile, Kasumi prompted, "Hinata-san?"

"H-Hai!" The Hyuga stared at Sasuke intently, biting her lip.

"Can you see it?"

"Y-Yes. It's a m-mass of chakra, concentrated n-near his neck... umm, u-underneath his m-mark, I think."

"Is it spreading?"

Hinata nodded, shifting uneasily. "H-Hai. Throughout his chakra coils..."

"How far?" Kasumi leaned her weight against Sasuke comfortingly, feeling the small tremors that shook his frame.

"It's down his sh-shoulder and r-reaching toward his h-heart." Hinata said, twisting her fingers. "It's... r-really dark. L-Like p-poison."

She considered what she knew of how the Hyuga Clan worked, their method of attack. "Could... could you block it off?" She asked. "Just until this Exam is over and we can get medical help."

Hinata thought about it. "I-I think s-so."

"Wait a minute. This isn't going to be dangerous to you, is it, Hinata?" Kiba cut in, frowning.

She shook her head. "I-I should be f-fine."

"Will there be any side effects?" Sasuke wanted to know.

"Th-The chakra to your a-arm will pr-probably be re-really weak and yo-your shoulder might feel a little n-numb." Hinata said apologetically.

She glanced at Sasuke. "It's your choice."

He didn't hesitate. "Do it."

Kasumi watched and hoped she hadn't made the wrong decision.

**Appraisal**

"We should compare information." Kasumi said on the dawn of the fifth and final day of the test. As usual, they were all in Team Seven's room, crowded on the beds by team. Sasuke sat next to her on the edge of her bed while Naruto messed around on the majority of the bed behind them.

"Yes. That would be prudent." Shino adjusted his glasses, crowding against Hinata and Kiba on Naruto's bed, though none of them looked uncomfortable.

"What do ya mean?" Kiba glanced between them, frowning in confusion.

Shikamaru yawned, lying on Sasuke's bed. Ino fussed with her hair, kneeling near his feet while Choji sat on the edge, eating potato chips. "Troublesome. What they're saying is that we should share what we know about our opponents of the Third Exam so as to better our chances of success."

Kiba opened his mouth and then shut it, as if suddenly reliving an experience. "Yeah." He said, voice unusually subdued. "I guess you're right."

Naruto eyed him strangely. "Oi, Kiba. What's up?"

"There was this guy we met in the Forest of Death." Akamaru shivered and buried his face in Kiba's chest, matching the dark tone of his voice. "His name was Gaara."

Sasuke stirred. "Gaara? Redhead with a tattoo on his forehead?"

"That's the one. Have you guys met him?"

"Yes, but go on. What happened?" Kasumi didn't like that Sand genin. Any information on him, any at all, would be useful.

"He was a monster." Kiba said bluntly, face pale. "He tore apart three genin without blinking... and he would have killed us, too."

"... How?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sand." Shino said. "He was able to control sand. With hand gestures, he manipulated the sand he stored in the gourd on his back and completely enveloped his opponents. Then, he applied brutal pressure and crushed them to death."

"I-It was horrible." Hinata breathed, eyes wide with fright.

Naruto grinned confidently at her, cerulean eyes warm. "Don't be scared, Hinata! I won't let him touch you!"

Kasumi watched with amusement as Hinata's face went red, the girl wavering unsteadily. But... "Anything else?"

"Yes. His teammate, apparently also his older brother, referred to a technique in which sand was utilized to block incoming projectiles as 'a sand based total defense'." Shino said.

"Total defense, huh...?" Shikamaru didn't sound convinced, but then again, it was mutually agreed between the strategists that very few things in the world was "total".

"Correct. He implied that it was automatic, happening with or without the user's will and only capable of being used by Gaara himself. Their other teammate, said to be the older sister, claimed that any sand in the air or on the ground can be controlled by him."

"Scary..." Choji said through a mouthful of chips.

"Yeah." Kiba bared his teeth. "He almost killed us, too. It's only because his brother and sister argued against it that we're still alive."

"What about his teammates?" Ino asked, frowning at a knot in her blonde hair. "Anything on them?"

Hinata shook her head. "Th-They didn't d-do an-anything."

"They didn't have to." Kiba added.

"... The kunoichi had a large fan strapped to her back." Kasumi said, recalling their former meetings. "She is most likely a wind user. The other ninja... he is probably a puppet user. Sunagakure is famous for their puppet masters."

"Alright. I think we can all agree that we avoid the Sand Team. They're too troublesome." Shikamaru glanced around the room, noting the concession on everyone's faces.

Well, everyone but Sasuke, of course, although only Kasumi truly noticed it. Because her teammate was near suicidal.

Regardless, she locked her eyes with his until he inclined his head subtly. If they weren't matched up together, Sasuke wouldn't go looking for a fight with this Gaara person. Not with the danger to his team and the mark on his neck.

"There was another team." Naruto spoke up. "Bushy Brows' team."

"Who?" Ino gave him a weird look.

"Rock Lee." Kasumi clarified. "He's a Leaf genin."

"Right. The one that Kabuto told us about, right?" Choji said.

Kasumi fought down her innate revulsion to that guy's name, not oblivious to the looks that Naruto and Sasuke shot her as they remembered what she had said to them at the start of the Second Exam. Before she said anything, Shikamaru beat her to it. "That guy's troublesome. We should stay away from him."

"Huh? Why? He was nice to us when we met him." Kiba defended.

"No, Kiba. Shikamaru is right." Shino intervened. "A mere Leaf genin, no matter how many times he has taken this Exam, should not have the depth of information Kabuto did."

"How so?" Naruto questioned.

"He knew about B-rank missions, Naruto-san. From a genin from _Suna_." Kasumi said. "About skills and abilities, could compare them between last year and this year. That's not normal."

"So, we should avoid him." Choji summarized simply.

"Yeah. So back to Rock Lee." Sasuke said, eyes narrowing in distaste and interest both. "He's got good taijutsu but nothing else."

"Not good taijutsu, teme." Naruto disagreed immediately. "His taijutsu is awesome! He even kicked - " Kasumi prickled a senbon against his upper leg discreetly - "some guy's ass!" He finished awkwardly, giving Kasumi a wary look.

She ignored it. While Lee was certainly very powerful, there was no need to tell the others of the fight between him and Sasuke. Said Uchiha looked part grateful, part annoyed... but only to Kasumi and Naruto. To the others, he probably looked as unreadable as ever.

"But just taijutsu?" Shino said.

"Yes. Just taijutsu. But his strength and specifically his speed are formidable. Don't underestimate him." Kasumi warned. "Kabuto-san said his teammates are Hyuga Neji and Tenten, if I remember right."

"That's what I've got, too." Shikamaru rested his head on his arms. "That guy's your cousin, right, Hinata?"

Hinata peeped as everyone's attention swung to her, staring at the ground. "H-Hai!"

"So, he can use the Byakugan, too." Shikamaru deduced. "Probably powerful. Jeez, what a drag."

Ino rolled her eyes, grabbing a pillow to throw at him. "You think everything is troublesome, Shikamaru!"

"That's because everything _is_ troublesome."

The room filled with laughter, the tension fading away.

"Well, no matter what's going to happen, we're all going to be fine!" Naruto said with conviction, grin as bright as the sun. "Believe it!"

"Yeah, yeah, dead-last."

"What was that, Kiba?!"

"Stop it, you two!" Ino screeched.

"See? Troublesome."


	30. Preliminary

**Me: I do not own Naruto! ^_^**

* * *

**Preliminary**

"First off, for the Second Test, congratulations! You all passed!" Anko yelled through her microphone. "Hokage-sama will now explain the Third Test. Listen carefully."

Kasumi took a look around the large room they had been bought on to. The teams were all lined up in rows and there were six in total. Facing them were their jounin sensei, the proctors, some chunin, and, of course, the Hokage himself.

A beep colored yellow flashed in her mind. There was danger here. Not danger that could or wanted to reach her, but there was danger here.

"Yes. For the Third Test... but before I explain that, there is something I'd like you to know." The Sandaime said, talking through a pipe in his mouth. "It concerns the true reason for this Exam. Why do we have all the allianced countries taking the Exam together?" He asked rhetorically, one hand reaching up to grab his Hokage's hat.

"'To promote friendship among the countries to raise the level of shinobi.' I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning. This Exam is a replacement of war along the allied countries." He said, dark eyes stern.

"What does that mean...?" A kunoichi with two buns on the side of her head asked. Tenten, Kasumi identified through the teammates standing in front of her: Lee and Neji.

"If you go back in time, the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule. In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage that those countries chose for battle, that is the origin of these Chunin Selection Exams." The Sandaime explained evenly.

"What does that have to do with us?! I thought this was an Exam to decide who was going to become chunin!" Naruto yelled, held back only by the hand Kasumi had touched to his inner wrist and Sasuke's steady presence.

"It is a fact that this Exam decides which shinobi have what it takes to become a chunin." The Hokage agreed. "But, on the other hand, this Exam has another side. Where each country's shinobi risk their own lives to protect their land's prestige."

... Bullshit. Kasumi thought it but wasn't in any way foolish enough to say it out loud. She would wager a good amount of money that _none_ of the genin here were fighting for that purpose. Maybe Naruto had it lingering in the back of his mind, but that was it.

They fought for strength to complete their goals, for a promotion that would increase their standing. They fought to protect themselves and their precious people, to reach the standards set for them, to avoid disappointing their sensei.

They didn't fight "to protect their land's prestige." It had probably never even crossed the minds of several people here before the Hokage had bought it up.

"Prestige?" Ino questioned.

"Watching this Exam will be leaders and influential individuals. From many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi. And the Leaders of the Countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients. And conversely if seen as weak, that country will lose clients."

Ah, advertisement. The Hokage made it sound so glorified, Kasumi thought with a mildly amused smile. But, then again, wasn't that his job? There were few civilians willing to send their children to the Academy if they heard it described as Murderer School.

"And this will signify to potential enemy countries that 'our village has this much power'. So it will send a political messenger to outsiders." The Sandaime removed his pipe, the smoke coming from it swirling in the air almost hypnotically.

"Yeah, but why?!" Kiba shouted out. "Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?!"

She knew why. There was no other way. The shinobi life _was_ battle.

_Blood staining the air, painting the ground, on her skin, copper and iron in her mouth. Her Okaa-san's blood, her Otou-san's blood, everywhere and nowhere... because they were gone._

"The strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battle. This Exam is a place to see each country's strength and to show off your own strength."

In other words, the Chunin Exams only occurred so the Five Great Shinobi Countries could gather around and see who was weak. And if one of them _was _weak, it would be taken advantage of without hesitation. So long as a country was deemed relatively strong, peace was kept.

"It only has meaning because lives are at risk. And that's why those who have come before you have fought in the Chunin Exams for this dream that is meaningful." The Sandaime said, and Kasumi couldn't tell whether or not he truly believed this.

Perhaps. Perhaps he did, because she knew he had witnessed more than one Shinobi World War.

"But then why did you say stuff about it being for 'friendship'?" Tenten asked.

"I said it in the beginning, I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance. This is the shape of friendship in the life of shinobi."

It was the most horrifying description of friendship Kasumi had ever heard.

"Before we begin the Third Test, I will tell you one more thing." The Hokage continued. "This is not just a Test. This is a life-risking battle with your dreams and your country's prestige on the line."

Naruto folded his arms, grinning idiotically. "I get it..."

Sasuke and Kasumi exchanged an exasperated look about the moron's head. Had the blind fool listened to any of what they had said about propaganda?

Apparently not.

"I don't care what it is..." The genin named Gaara said in dead tone laced with undertones of bloodlust. A shiver ran down Kasumi's back. "Just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."

"Yes, I'd like to explain the Third Test now, but..." The Sandaime was abruptly cut off by a Shunshin in front of him, a sickly-looking jounin appearing.

"Actually..." He coughed. "I apologize, Hokage-sama. From here on, as the referee, will you please allow me, Gekkou Hayate..."

"By all means." The Hokage replied.

"Hello everyone, I'm Hayate." He got to his feet, turning around to look at them with dark, dark circles under his eyes. "Umm... before the Third Test, there's something I'd like you to do..."

'He looks sick.' Was the general thought of the Rookie Nine.

"Umm... it's a preliminary for the Third Test..." He mumbled. "To decide who gets to participate in the main event."

"Preliminary?" Shikamaru called out, sounding annoyed. "What do you mean?"

"Umm... because the First and Second Test may have been too easy this year, we have a bit too many people remaining. According to Chunin Exam Rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the Third Test." He explained weakly. "As Hokage-sama indicated earlier, there will be many guests at the Third Test, so the fights could take too long and we are limited in time."

Well. Wasn't this wonderful? Kasumi wasted a heartbeat to feel grateful they had already gotten three days of rest. She was at full strength. Naruto was, too, although his chakra was still affected by whatever Orochimaru had done to him.

As for Sasuke... he was doing better than before, even though the majority of his chakra was being used up fighting against the Mark Orochimaru had placed on him.

"Um... so anyway... those who are not feeling well" - he was totally one to talk - "or those who feel like quitting after these explanations, please come forward now. Since we will be starting the preliminary immediately..."

There was a beat of silence. Two.

"Umm..." A hand raised. Kabuto smiled sheepishly at the proctor. "I'm going to quit."

A practically visible wave of tension rippled over the Rookie Nine. Naruto glanced uncertainly at Kasumi who shook her head minutely. Kiba suppressed a growl, hand clenching. Ino looked slightly alarmed.

"Umm..." Hayate coughed, glancing down at his clipboard. "You're Yakushi Kabuto from the Leaf, right? You may leave now." Kabuto left without further fanfare. "Does anyone else want to retire? Oh... umm... I forgot tell you that from now on it will be individual battling. You may raise your hand based on your own judgement."

Sasuke stiffened in front of Kasumi with a cut off gasp, a hand rising to clutch at his neck. Kasumi narrowed her eyes, inwardly cursing Orochimaru. She knew better than to think he would give up, but...

Her hand wandered out and gripped his free one. Sasuke shot her a look quickly tainted by pain, face going pale. Remaining silent, Kasumi simply held his hand, providing an anchor. If she had been the one marked, her Tentaiora would have probably been able to neutralize the foreign chakra, but using it on Sasuke would most likely only hurt him.

She couldn't help him... beyond this.

"Umm... now... there are no more retiring, right?" Hayate asked.

Silence was his answer.

"Okay... let's begin the preliminary. This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation." He said. "Since we now have exactly seventeen entrants, we will conduct eight matches and one will get a free pass. The winners advance to the Third Exam."

"There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies or is knocked out or admits your defeat. Um... if you don't want to die, then quickly acknowledge your defeat." Hayate advised. "But when I decide that the winner has clearly been established... since we don't want to pointlessly increase the amount of corpses, I'll jump in and stop things."

Weren't they nice? My, it was essentially a free for all until someone was dead or had forfeited. Not violent at all.

"And the object that controls your destiny..." A whirling sound echoed through the room and a curtain was rolled up to reveal a board embedded in the wall, "... is this... this electric scoreboard will show the match-ups for each battle. Now, this is sudden but let's announce the two names of the first fight."

Kasumi frowned. Already?

The board buzzed and then showed two names. Her heart dropped.

_Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi._

Their luck was terrible.

"End it." She said, turning to whisper in Sasuke's ear. "End it quickly and forcefully. Don't let this draw out."

He nodded, dark eyes steady and calm. "I'll be fine, Kasumi."

She rather thought it would be best not to jinx it for them.

**Sasuke/ Yoroi**

"Kakashi-sensei." Kasumi greeted from the upper level as he walked up to them.

"Kasumi, Naruto." He eye-smiled, hands casually placed in his pockets. "You two look well."

"No thanks to that creepy snake bastard." Naruto muttered under his breath.

She saw no surprise on Kakashi's face. Which meant... "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"What'll happen if that mark becomes active again?" Despite everything Hinata had done.

"Don't worry about it." He assured her, copying her low volume. "If that happens, I'll jump in and stop the match."

"Ah. Okay." It would have to be enough.

The match started out with a near obligatory wave of kunai and shuriken, Sasuke keeping a wary distance. Not that it mattered, seeing as the pain was distracting Sasuke so much, he almost didn't notice with Yoroi leapt across that distance with a burst of chakra.

They engaged each other in a bout of taijutsu, complete with kunai in hands and multiple attempts to stab the other. It was only when Sasuke managed to bring both of them to the ground that Kasumi realized Yoroi was using some jutsu or another.

Kasumi narrowed her eyes as Sasuke visibly began to weaken, blows becoming flimsy and trembling all over. Naruto saw it, too. "What's he _doing_?!" He hissed in frustration.

Dodging under a kick, Yoroi gripped Sasuke's face with his hand and the Uchiha fell back, panting. "Ugh... my chakra..."

There. "He's absorbing Sasuke-san's chakra." Kasumi frowned deeply, not at all happy with this genin's ability. It was like the worst match-up in history. And at a time like now...?!

Kicking out with his feet, Sasuke finally got Yoroi off of him and got to one knee, gasping heavily. His entire body was shaking; he was at his limit.

Naruto obviously didn't agree. "Sasuke! Are you really Uchiha Sasuke?! Is that the best you can do?!" He yelled loudly at his teammate, frustration mixed with worry to create anger.

Somehow, Kasumi wasn't surprised in the least to see Sasuke win after that, using a move he had copied off of Lee with his Sharingan way back before the First Exam. Konoha itself might fall and the moon above might disappear, but never would Sasuke Uchiha resist a taunt by Uzuamki Naruto.

She rolled her eyes, sighing softly in relief as Hayate declared, "I'm stopping the fight here... and thus, the winner of the first match, Uchiha Sasuke, has passed the prelims." What with Yoroi in a crater on the ground, there really was no other option.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist into the air.

Kasumi leaned her elbows on the railing, chin in her palm, and smiled gently. On the ground, Sasuke wavered... would have fallen backwards if Kakashi's knee wasn't suddenly there to stabilize him.

"Good job." He commented idly, nose in his porn.

"Pft." Sasuke glanced back at their perverted sensei, a small smile pulling at his lips.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Naruto continued to cheer. "But, really, what a lame way to win, Sasuke! You're all beat up!"

"That damn total moron..." Sasuke muttered, but it was fond.

"Uchiha Sasuke." A medic said, walking forward as another two carried Yoroi off in a stretcher. "Let the medical team treat your injuries now."

"You guys aren't needed." Kakashi said flippantly, kneeing to place a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "I'll take care of him."

"Neh, Kasumi-chan, see? Sasuke's fine!" Naruto turned to grin at her as Kakashi disappeared with Sasuke and she smiled back.

"So he is."

The scoreboard buzzed and two new names showed up.

_Aburame Shino vs. Akimichi Choji._

**Shino/Choji**

"You should forfeit, Choji." Shino recommended as soon as they were both in the arena, adjusting to his glasses coolly. "This is not an ideal match for you."

"Nah." Choji grinned, shrugging. "If I quit now, Ino'll be really mad."

"You got that right!" Ino yelled down from the stands. "Kick his ass, Choji!"

"See?" Choji nodded wisely.

"I see." Shino nodded back, eyebrow twitching slightly at the reminder of the sheer amount of noise that one day Ino had utterly lost her temper. "In that case, prepare yourself."

The match before Shino and Choji went about as well as she expected it to go, Kasumi thought. As soon as it started, Choji tried to crush Shino with his Multi-Size Technique and Human Bullet Tank. He didn't really succeed; that technique was devastating when the target was immobilized, which was why the Ino-Shika-Cho combination worked so well.

But, as it turned out, Shino was quick and agile and avoided all of the attempts to roll him into pancakes. Despite that, the Aburame's insects turned out to be rather inconsequential against a heavy ball of meat. All they could do was hover helplessly around Choji as he rolled this way and that.

They couldn't even frighten him, considering his head was tucked in as well.

Eventually, Shino won, purely because he had outlasted the other genin. It had taken him near to five minutes to drain away enough of Choji's chakra to slow him down and then deal him a decisive blow, but he had done it. Hayate knelt down next to Choji, who was splayed out on the floor, eyes closed, and nodded.

"Akimichi Choji is unconscious. Winner: Aburame Shino!"

"..." Shino said nothing more, but stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way up the stairs.

"Dammit, Choji! You were so close!" Ino sulked, flames roaring in her eyes.

Shikamaru just sighed. "Troublesome. At least he's not too hurt."

"Oh. Shi-Shino-kun, congratulations." Hinata stuttered as he rejoined his team.

"Hey, good job." Kiba added.

"Yeah. I'm counting on you guys, too." Shino replied calmly.

"Umm... I think we should go to the next match..." Hayate said.

A brush of air behind them had Kasumi and Naruto automatically glancing behind them to see Kakashi appear.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hey." He greeted nonchalantly.

"How's Sasuke-san?" Kasumi inquired softly. She thought that if her teammates were in danger, she would know, but that was a theory.

"Well, he's fine. Sleeping in a hospital bed." Kakashi eye-smiled.

"... Was there any trouble?"

Kakashi peered at his female student, dark eye shrewd. "Why do you think so, Kasumi-chan?"

"Just a feeling." She shrugged carelessly. It wasn't a lie; there had been a brief moment during the match she felt as if someone had walked over her grave, but it had been brief.

"Maa, maa, like I said, don't worry about it. Sasuke's fine." By that, she gathered that, yes, something had happened. But Kakashi-sensei said Sasuke was okay, so she let it go reluctantly, aware of the eavesdroppers that surrounded them.

The scoreboard buzzed.

_Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro._

**Misumi/Kankuro**

To be brutally honest, Kausmi found the next fight terribly boring. It ended in less than two minutes. Misumi might have the power to bend his body in strange and disturbing ways, but it meant nothing if the one you were threatening was a puppet.

Really, the only thing she found useful was that the match officially confirmed her suspicions of Kankuro being a puppet user. And that he liked to hide in bandages while making his puppet act as his 'real' self.

Ah, and then Misumi was dead.

"The battle cannot be continued." Hayate proclaimed. "Winner: Kankuro!"

"That's allowed, Kakashi-sensei? It's 2 on 1." Naruto pointed at the scene abrasively.

"That's just a doll." Kakashi said, arms crossed. "It's allowed."

"Puppet no Jutsu." Kasumi defined for him. "Controlling a doll and using it as a weapon. No different from kunai or shuriken, really."

"We will now begin the fourth match." Hayate said.

"Geez, geez, there's a bunch of weirdos here." Naruto commented.

"Like you're one to talk..." Kakashi said.

Kasumi said nothing, her attention focused on the scoreboard that had spit out two more names.

_Kasumi vs. Yamanaka Ino._

**Kasumi/Ino**

"No hard feelings, okay?" Ino held out a hand, smile friendly.

"No hard feelings." Kasumi agreed with a matching smile, taking her hand.

They shook, making it a deal.

"Begin!" Hayate yelled, jumping back.

Kasumi copied his movement, though not his direction, fingers already spinning through seals. She knew what the Yamanaka Techniques detailed. Ino was never getting inside her mind, thank you very much.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Neither of her teammates were here to help her, so Kasumi poured a liberal amount of chakra into this jutsu, much more than usual. As a result, the breeze was more of a massive gust.

A violent one.

Ino, having jumped back as well with a kunai in her hand, could only gasp, eyes widening as the wind hit her head on, sending her crashing into the wall. The gale whirled around the room, pulling at clothes, tugging at hair, blowing away everything that wasn't safely secure.

"Damn." Shikamaru hissed, throwing up his arms to ward against the sheer force of the jutsu.

"She's good." Temari commented, a small smile on her lips.

"You go, Kasumi-chan!" Naruto shouted happily, gripping hard on to the railing. He, along with teme, had been the ones to help her achieve this level of pressure, after all.

Kicking up a good amount of dust, even after the jutsu died down, the lower level of room remained firmly enclosed in dust for a minute or two. When it dissipated at last, Kasumi stood in the same position she had been in before the wind jutsu, blinking rapidly.

Ino, on the other hand, was nowhere in sight.

Kasumi shifted her weight restlessly, brown eyes combing the area. Where was she?!

"Gotcha!"

Gasping, she spun around to see a flood of kunai and shuriken heading straight towards her. Snatching a kunai into her hands, she narrowed her eyes and concentrated. Dodge left, deflect two, duck low, send a shuriken to the left, step to the right...

They kept coming, the thrower running in circles around her and hurling projectile after projectile at her. Kasumi briefly wondered why Ino wasn't taking the chance to attack her straight on, but lost that train of thought when a kunai flew an inch away from her cheek.

The only good thing about this was that because of her constant movement, Ino's aim really wasn't very good. Unlike Naruto, who she had the misfortune of sparring with regularly. After she and Sasuke had corrected his stance, his aim had improved substantially and combined with his shadows clones...

Well. Kasumi was able to dodge and deflect all of the weapons Ino threw at her with ease. Practice makes perfect.

Soon enough, she let her hand fall back to her side, standing in a rough ring of kunai and shuriken. "What now, Ino-san?" She asked the blonde who stood, panting, a few feet away.

Ino didn't look too good. The impact against the wall must have caused quite a few bruises and the merciless wind had produced several shallow wounds on her body. But she was smiling triumphantly. "Why don't you look around yourself, Kasumi?"

She stilled, brown eyes widening. Taking a meticulous look around her surroundings, Kasumi had no idea what she was talking about... until she saw the glint of light on wire. "Ninja wire." Intermixed with the regular weapons, some of the kunai had loops of ninja wire looped into their hilts, resulting in a intricate web of razor-sharp strands surrounding her.

Kasumi couldn't possibly move unless she wanted missing body parts. Unbidden, her mind showed her just how cleanly Mummy-man's feet have been cut off.

Ino's smile widened. "You were so distracted with not getting hit that you didn't notice." She said, bringing her hands up in a hand-seal. "Don't panic. This'll only take a second. Mind Body Switch Techn - ack!" A senbon darted through the air, buried itself in the back of her neck.

Ino blinked, swaying. In front of her, 'Kasumi' tilted her head and smiled sweetly, right before she melted into water. Mouth forming an 'O', Ino's eyes fluttered closed and she slumped forward.

Genjutsu breaking, Kasumi pushed off from where she had been leaning on the wall behind Ino and, in a flare of chakra, landed beside Ino. Catching her limp body before she could lean forward and hurt herself on her own ninja wire, Kasumi set the Yamanaka gently on the ground.

"I believe this match goes to me." She said, glancing up at Hayate.

He nodded. "Yamanaka Ino is unfit to continue! Winner: Kasumi!"


	31. Matches

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

_Last time:_

_"I believe this match goes to me." She said, glancing up at Hayate._

_He nodded. "Yamanaka Ino is unfit to continue! Winner: Kasumi!"_

* * *

**Tenten/Temari**

Kasumi waited until the Medical Team had carried Ino away before making her way back up to Naruto and Kakashi.

"Kasumi-chan!" Naruto grinned at her brightly. "You did awesome!"

"You did very well." Kakashi eye-smiled at her.

"Thanks." She smiled faintly, leaning against the railing and glancing at Shikamaru. "Sorry, Shikamaru-san."

He shrugged. "Ino'll be fine. She'll probably talk my ears off when she wakes up though. Man, what a drag."

"We will move on to the next match now." Hayate said.

The scoreboard buzzed.

_Temari vs. Tenten._

That match... it made Kasumi wince. It was just brutal. She took back her earlier thoughts; Sasuke vs. Yoroi wasn't the worst match after all. This one was.

A wind user against a weapons user?

Tenten was at a major, major disadvantage. And, unwittingly, she proved it.

No matter how many weapons she threw at Temari, the Sand nin simply blasted them all away. Even her final attack, one that involved two scrolls and an impressive amount of projectiles had no effect. Temari though... with one simple wind jutsu, she ended the fight.

"How boring..." Temari commented, letting Tenten fall on top of her sealed fan without an ounce of sympathy.

"The 5th match... Winner: Temari!" Hayate announced.

Temari smirked cruelly and, in a swift move, threw the unconscious kunoichi towards her own weapons, lying desolate and dangerous on the ground. Before Tenten could get any more injured, Lee caught his teammate, having moved so fast he was a blur.

"Nice catch." Temari said.

"What are you doing?" Lee demanded. "Is that how you treat someone who gave her all in battle?"

"Shut up. Take that loser and get out of here." She replied callously.

Lee gritted his teeth, muscles tensing in preparation for movement.

"Stop, Lee!" Neji yelled, but he was already moving forward, spinning around to kick Temari in the chest. In the blink of an eye, she bought her fan up, blocking his attack.

"What!"

"Just as I thought, you're also as pathetic as you appear to be." She smiled mockingly.

"What did you say?" Flames leapt in Lee's eyes.

"Lee, stop!" Gai commanded, landing on the arena in a green whisper.

"Gai-sensei..." Lee straightened up, shifting away from Temari as she muttered, "Damn."

"Temari, get up here!" Gaara spoke up coldly. "You've been declared the winner. Stop wasting time with that pathetic guardian guy..."

"What!" Lee looked up, frowning fiercely.

Gaara and Lee engaged in a glaring match, the tension near visible in the air.

"That's enough, Lee..." Gai said, moving forward. He took notice of the way his student's fist trembled with anger and sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sand Team... there's something I'd like to warn you about if you don't mind."

Lee twitched, eyes wide.

"This kid is strong. You better prepare yourselves." Gai said simply, but with the utmost belief.

It rather reminded Kasumi of Naruto. Except it wasn't quite as loud.

"Now... umm... for the next match..." Hayate mumbled, shooing Gai and Lee out of the arena.

The scoreboard buzzed.

_Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba._

Kasumi blinked. Oh, dear.

Immediately, she swung around to Naruto, who was still processing. "Naruto-san." Kasumi said sternly, waiting until he was looking at her to continue. "Use your brain. _Or else.__" _She had not spent _hours_ teaching him for it all to go out the window now.

**Naruto/Kiba**

"The Seventh Match... Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba!" Hayate proclaimed, leaping back.

Kiba laughed loudly, bringing his fists up. "It's like we've already won! So lucky! Eh, Akamaru?" His dog barked in agreement.

"Oh, be quiet." Naruto pouted. "You gonna bring Akamaru into this?"

"Of course!" He grinned, kneeling down to stroke the puppy's fur. "He fights with me!"

"Heh, okay." The blonde shrugged, crossing his arms. "You need the help anyways."

"Humph." Kiba rose to his feet, smirking. "Acting all tough. Then I'll do this... Akamaru, you stay out of this. I'll fight alone."

Akamaru whined softly, but backed off.

Kasumi titled her head to the side. 'He's underestimating Naruto-san...'

"I feel bad for you." Kiba said, raising a fist. "So I'll end it with one punch.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Less boasting and more action!"

"Fine!"

"Then... please begin!" Hayate jumped out of range and, instantly, Naruto threw a smoke bomb onto the floor.

"What's he doing...?" Shikamaru wondered.

The smoke cleared in a minute... to reveal none of the players had moved. Kiba was even sweatdropping, rolling his eyes at a sheepish Naruto, who rubbed the back of his neck. "What the hell was that for, Naruto?!"

"I thought it added effect!" He claimed defensively.

"Moron. You haven't changed a bit." And with that judgement, Kiba crouched close to the floor, making a handseal.

"Beast Effect Ninpou. Quadruped no Jutsu!" He went down to all fours, a layer of chakra glowing off of him. "Here I come!"

Naruto blinked.

Kiba zoomed forward, knocking Naruto in the chest and straight into a wall... where he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Huh?!" The look on his face was comical.

"Oi, Kiba!" A poof appeared behind Kiba and scattered to reveal Naruto, grinning a very foxy grin and waving a hand cheerfully in the air. "What was that?! You hit like a grandma!"

Lee grinned widely, white teeth sparkling. "Ooh!" He pumped a fist in excitement.

Shino stirred, turning his head slightly towards Kasumi. "Kasumi. Do you believe Naruto will win?"

She smiled confidently, elbows on the railing and chin in her palms. "Of course." Both Shino and Shikamaru stiffened, obviously surprised.

'Really, you would have thought they understood he wasn't just the dead-last...' Kasumi mused to herself, turning her attention back to the match. Utterly focused on the 'Naruto' in front of him, Kiba hadn't noticed the innocent kunai lying on the floor behind him, hence how Naruto had managed to completely startle the Inuzuka.

"You should stop acting tough!" Naruto proclaimed. "Just use your puppy or something."

Kiba gritted his teeth. "You'll regret that." He promised. "Let's go, Akamaru!"

"Bark!"

Naruto's eyes widened, cerulean eyes catching the small pill in Kiba's hand. That was... a smoke bomb! "Oh no, you don't!" He yelled, flinging kunai and shuriken in batches at Kiba and Akamaru.

"Keh!" Kiba snatched up his dog with one hand and leapt into the air, going at least ten feet with the aid of chakra. Smirking, he threw the smoke bomb and the arena was obscured with smoke once more.

Kiba and Akamaru jumped right into the fray and, a second later, a popping noise was heard. And then...

"What the hell?!"

"Th-That's Kiba-kun!" Hinata's eyes widened.

"Hyahah!"

"Hya!"

"Gua!"

"Got you!"

"Get off of me!"

"Argh!"

"Bark!"

And, interspersed here and there, were random poofing noises. Kasumi giggled softly underneath her breath, rather pleased with her work. Kami-sama knew it had taken almost superhuman reserves of patience.

At last, Kiba leapt out of the smoke with Akamaru, eyes wide. The smoke dispersed to reveal at least two dozen Narutos, standing proudly, complete with the same exact foxy grin.

"What the hell?!" Kiba asked again, mouth open. "H-How...?!"

The Narutos just grinned even wider and reached into their pouch, taking out kunai and flinging them towards Kiba. Clenching his teeth, Kiba grabbed Akamaru and leapt out to the right... only to gape as the kunai disappeared in a poof of smoke and all of a sudden there were _more_ Narutos running towards him, ready to attack.

"No way..." Shikamaru breathed. "That Naruto just combined Kage Bunshin and Henge no Jutsu... on a grand scale!"

"He has good timing with his jutus..." Temari said.

"Yeah. He's better than I thought." Kankuro agreed.

"Tch. Looks like we're going to have to get serious, boy." Kiba said to Akamaru, who yipped in agreement. He flung a pill at his dog who swallowed it whole. Akamaru's chakra seethed, his fur turning a dark red as he began to grow in size, growling menacingly.

"Oi!" One of the Narutos yelled. "What did you feed him?! His fur's red!"

"That's why he's _Aka_maru." Kiba replied, munching on a pill himself. His own chakra blazed, almost doubling. "Here we go, Akamaru!" He shouted, crouching down with Akamaru jumping onto his back, fingers forming a hand-seal once more.

"Beast Effect Ninpou! Beast Human Bunshin!" There was a poof of smoke, and suddenly, there were _two_ Kibas. "Grr..." They growled.

"Eeeh?! What'd he do?!" One of the Narutos yelled, only to have the one standing next to him bop him on the head, instantly dispelling it.

"You idiot! That's a soldier pill!" He yelled back at himself. "Kasumi-chan told us about it, remember?!"

"Ah, right!" Another one of the clones piped up. "It's that pill that makes your chakra increase, right?!"

"Yeah! That's the one!" A different clone pumped his fist into the air, only to be dispelled by his annoyed neighbor.

"That's not good, you idiot!"

"Who are you calling, idiot? We are you!" The second clone reminded them all.

"Oh, yeah..." The clones sweatdropped along with most of the audience.

"Is he for real...?" Shikamaru deadpanned

"Jeez. You're still as stupid as ever." One of the Kibas said in a rough growl.

"Oi!" Every single one of the clones pointed a finger at the Kibas. "We resent that!"

"Oh, shut up!" The Kibas sprang, spinning rapidly in midair. "Piercing Fang!" The two spun like a tornado or a drill, twirling around each other like twin ribbons and blazing a trail through the Naruto clones. There was a succession of poofing as the clones disappeared in smoke.

"You shut up, Kiba!" Two of the clones in the line of fire chorused, running straight towards the two Kibas. They clapped their hands, holding their palms out. "Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

The double wind jutsu, even if only through shadow clones, crashed through the arena, forcing the Kibas to a stop. They growled, throwing their arms over their faces, digging their feet in the ground but being forced backwards nonetheless and creating deep grooves in the ground.

"What a drag." Shikamaru muttered, arm shielding his face.

"I think... I see what you were talking about before." Shino said to Kasumi, who merely watched the scene with a satisfied smile.

"Good." She said simply.

"Ha... ha... you think something that lame would work on me?!" A Kiba yelled after the jutsu had passed, glaring at the crowd of Narutos who remained.

"No." One of them replied, smirking.

"WE KNOW IT WILL!" They yelled as one, clapping their hands and then pushing their palms outward.

The two Kibas' eyes widened. "Shit!" One of them shouted, running forward, but it was too late.

"WIND RELEASE: GALM PALM!"

There were, by Kasumi's calculations, around twenty-nine Narutos. That was one wind jutsu multiplied twenty-nine times. Naruto didn't lack for chakra, even with Orochimaru's machinations added to the mix... and it had only taken Kasumi one wind jutsu to send Ino flying.

Kiba didn't stand a chance. And neither did Akamaru, of course.

They were hurled into the wall behind them, cracks appearing in the stone. One of the Kibas disappeared in a poof to reveal Akamaru, bruised and unconscious. Kiba coughed up blood, the wind pressure unrelenting as it continued to force him flatter against the wall.

Half a minute, a minute later, and it was over. Kiba fell to the ground along with Akamaru, leaving only the Naruto clones standing. They exchanged looks, the silence in the room absolute.

Finally, after a round of nudging, one Naruto clone stepped out and walked over cautiously to the other genin. He knelt down, cerulean blue eyes focused, and... poked him in the cheek. No response. Poke again. Still no response. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.

"... Naruto-san, I think that's enough." Kasumi called down, a delighted smile spreading across her face.

The Naruto clones looked between her and Kiba once, twice, three times. And then the brave Naruto clone got to his feet and grinned at the rest, dispersing in a poof of smoke.

All the other clones promptly followed, leaving only one left.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!" Hayate declared.

The only remaining Naruto reached into his pouch and retrieved a kunai that he threw into the air. He disappeared in a poof of smoke just as the real Naruto let go of the henge jutsu and landed lightly on the ground with a grin that outshone the sun and a peace sign.

"Yatta!" He shouted, jumping up and down, fists in the air without a single scratch on him. "I won, I won, I won! That was _awesome_!"

"Oooh!" Lee joined in on the excitement, pumping a fist of his own.

"That Naruto beat Kiba!" Shikamaru gaped. "Without ever actually fighting him!"

Kasumi only laughed gleefully and clapped her hands proudly. 'Naruto-san... you've truly grown stronger, in mind and in body.'

"Kasumi-chan, Kasumi-chan, Kasumi-chan!" Naruto sprinted up the steps, arms swinging, eyes sparkling. "Did you see that? Did you see that?! I won against Kiba! Wasn't I cool?"

"I saw, I saw." Kasumi smiled sweetly at her blonde teammate. "You did wonderfully."

Naruto _beamed_ at the compliment, which Kakashi added to, saying, "Maa, maa, you did good, Naruto."

Hayate coughed into his fist. "Now... we'll announce the next match..."

Kasumi glanced up and decided that she officially hated this scoreboard as it buzzed.

_Hyuga Hinata vs. Hyuga Neji._

**Hinata/Neji**

Naruto was fuming by the end of the 7th match as Hinata was carried off by the medics. Who did this asshole think he was?! He was worst than Sasuke, damn it! All that crap about fate and destiny! Like hell Naruto believed in that bullshit!

Plus, he had even tried to _kill_ Hinata! The jounins had to stop him! What the hell sort of guy was he?!

Gritting his teeth, Naruto drew his fingers through the blood on the ground - Hinata's blood - and gripped his hand tight, turning to face Neji. "You are going down!" He swore furiously.

"Bah..." The Hyuga scoffed, turning and walking away.

Naruto scowled, but Centipede Brows was right. The only way Neji would get what was coming to him was if Naruto faced him down in the Third Exam and beat his ass. So that was exactly what Naruto would do.

"I can't believe that bastard..." He muttered as he rejoined Kasumi and Kakashi. "Kasumi-chan, did you see what that bastard... did...?" Naruto trailed off upon catching sight of his female teammate.

Kasumi's fingers were clenched around the railing, the metal itself bent and disfigured. Her eyes blazed sienna, her mouth pressed so harshly together they were pale. Traces of anger streaked across the clean lines of her face, in her muscles, so tense they could break.

By her side, Shino had his hands in his pockets, face impossibly stoic. In comparison to Kasumi, he was relaxed, seemingly untouched by what had happened to Hinata. Well, that was if you ignored the loud, heavy buzzing arising from beneath his skin.

Eyes wide, Naruto suddenly remembered that Hinata had been Kasumi's friend for a long, long time, way back in the Academy. And Shino was Hinata's teammate, her friend, and they had gone through everything together...!

Naruto thought about how he would feel if Neji did what he did to Sasuke or Kasumi. Thought back to how he had felt when he had thought Haku had taken away his two precious teammates and felt a cold shiver shake his body. Never, ever again.

He reached out to place his hand on the kunoichi's. "Kasumi-chan...?"

Kasumi bit her bottom lip hard and pulled back abruptly, leaving the metal railing twisted. "Naruto-san, when the time comes, I want you to beat Neji-san into the ground." She said without looking at him at all.

Naruto set his jaw and nodded firmly. "Believe it."

The scoreboard buzzed. Kasumi closed her eyes.

_Gaara vs. Rock Lee._

**Gaara/Lee**

Kasumi refused, _refused_ to witness the match between Lee and Gaara.

It seemed like her life these days was just a progression of bad to worse to even worse.

Watching Tenten and Temari's fight was uncomfortable. Watching Hinata and Neji's fight was painful. Watching Lee and Gaara's fight was agony.

Lee would not give up. Just like Hinata would not give up.

Gaara would not show mercy. Just like Neji would not show mercy.

Don't get her wrong, Lee's strength was _impressive_. Especially after his weights were off and he was free to fight to his full power. His speed was ridiculous.

But it wasn't enough. Couldn't be enough.

Not against the monster called Gaara.

And then, he started to do something Kasumi had only ever read about in books.

Lee started to open the Chakra Gates.

The amount of chakra was astonishing. It was visible, in the air, to the naked eye. So explosive, powerful, extraordinary.

But it wasn't enough. Couldn't be enough.

At the end, Kasumi closed her eyes and found herself wishing Sasuke was there. She wouldn't mind leaning on his cool strength, steady composure.

Lee had to be carried out by the Medical Team on a stretcher, Gai hovering by his side.

Gaara walked out of the arena, sand mask back in place, not even a bruise in sight.

Shikamaru was then given a free pass out of the Exams, seeing as it had been an odd number. With the strained events that had just happened, even he didn't make such a big fuss out of it.

"Well, with this, the Preliminary Trials for the Round Three Test has been completed!" Hayate proclaimed.

**Lots**

"To all of you who won the rights to compete in the Third Test in the Chunin Selection Exam, one is missing but, congratulations to you all!" Hayate said after the winners were all called down the to the floor, lined up horizontally.

"Ah, well then, Hokage-sama, if you please..." He glanced back at the Hokage, who stepped up.

"Yes... well, now I'd like to start explaining the Main Test." The Sandaime gripped his hat, tilted it down. "As I told you before, in the Main Event, your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strength of your countries. I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves."

So, all-out no matter what, Kasumi concluded, tasting something bitter in the back of her throat. Like Hinata had done. Like Lee had done.

"Which is why the Finals will be held one month from now." The Hokage informed them.

"We're not going to do it right here, right now?" Naruto asked.

"The break, you can say, will be for preparations."

"What does that mean?" Neji inquired.

"In other words, in addition to informing all the various country lords and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event and this is also the preparation time for you examination students." He said.

"I don't understand what you're trying to say! What do you mean?" Kankuro scowled.

"Basically, it's the preparation to get to know your enemies and yourself." The Hokage elaborated. "It's the time period where you will calculate your chances of winning by analyzing the data you accumulated during the trial competition. The battles up to now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation with the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent."

Which... wasn't the case, now, Kasumi realized. Not when they had all see what the others could do. The Hokage confirmed it with his next words.

"However, the Final Trial will not be like this. There are those who showed all that they can do already to their rivals and there are those who competed and were badly injured against a strong opponent."

Was that what he called it? Kasumi rather thought she admired his loquaciousness. Those genin had been beaten until they could have _died_. Some did die.

"To make everything fair, the one month should be used by all of you to advance improve yourselves. Of course, it'll be fine to rest your body as well." The Hokage stated.

Kasumi twisted uneasily, glancing around the upper level. Kakashi had left a while back, saying he had something to do, but a rock weighed down her gut. Was something happening? To... Sasuke? Before she could worry too much, it was gone, but she resolved to have a talk with her sensei later.

"That's the way it is. Well, I'd like to dismiss you now, but there's something that has to be done for the Finals before I can do that." Oblivious to her thoughts, the Sandaime said.

"What is it?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"Well, now, don't get so excited." He chided. "There are pieces of paper inside of the box that Anko's holding so each of you take one piece."

"I'll come around so wait your turn!" Anko said, indeed carrying a box. They did as told, taking out one folded piece of paper.

"All right, you all took a piece. Now then, I'd like you to tell us the number on that paper in order, starting from left to right." The Hokage said.

"I've got 1." Naruto.

"9." Kasumi.

"7." Temari.

"5." Kankuro.

"3." Gaara."

"8." Shikamaru.

"2." Neji.

"6." Shino.

"That would mean that he's number 4." Ibiki said.

"Yes!" The Hokage answered. "All right, now I will reveal to you the Final Tournament!"

"Huh?!" Naruto lurched back in surprise.

"That's what we drew numbers for?" Shikamaru exclaimed, looking disgruntled.

"Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."

"Yes." Ibiki turned around the board he had been writing on, showing them the way the matches.

_Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuga Neji._

_Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke._

_Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino._

_Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru._

And then, Kasumi would be up against whoever won from the previous match, be it Shikamaru or Temari.

"Well then, you're free to start strategizing or resting as you like. Will this, I'll dismiss you, but any questions?" The Hokage asked.

Shikamaru raised a hand. "Can I ask a question?"

"Yes!"

"Since it's a tournament, it would mean there's only one winner, right...? Which would mean that only one person can become a chunin, doesn't it?" The Nara pointed out.

"No! That's not quite it!" The Sandaime said. "There will be judges, including myself, the Kazekage, lords of various countries that will make mission requests, and other ninja leaders, who will be watching the Final Test. Throughout the tournament, these judges will be measuring your abilities. Those judged to have the necessary qualities of a chunin will be able to become a chunin, even if they lose in their first match."

"That means that it's a possibility that everyone here will become a chunin?" Temari sounded skeptical.

"Yes. But also the possibility that no one will become a chunin! To advance in the tournament means that you will have more chances to appeal to the judges. Do you understand, Shikamaru-kun?"

"Hai." Was the deadpan response.

"Well then, thanks for all the effort you exerted for these trials!" The Hokage smiled. "You're all dismissed until a month from now."

Kasumi sighed, already planning the training schedules.


	32. Games

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

**Reactions**

The very second that the Hokage dismissed them, Kasumi headed for home. She was vaguely aware of Naruto mentioning something about going off to see Kakashi-sensei, but she really couldn't care less at this point.

She wanted to be _safe_.

If only just for the night, seeing as Orochimaru was probably still in Konoha and that man wasn't at all safe.

Approximately ten minutes later, she stood on her doorstep and turned the knob. A warm embrace enveloped her seconds later, and sighing, Kasumi willingly leaned into her brother's hug.

The past few days had been trying, to say the least.

"Come on." Hiroshi murmured and led her to the kitchen area. Plates of steaming food adorned the table, most of which were her favorites.

Kasumi hesitated. "I'm not very hungry." No matter that she hated to waste the food her brother had prepared, she felt like she would drop to the floor if she stayed standing for much longer.

He shook his head, gently pushing her into a seat. She went, feeling her muscles scream with relief. "You'll feel better in the morning once you get some food into your system. Eat, Kasumi."

She made a face, but obligingly took the bowl and chopsticks he handed her. The minutes passed in a blur, her movements growing mechanic. Delicious as the food was, her mind almost couldn't process it, dulled with exhaustion.

Towards the end, vision growing black around the edges, Kasumi felt herself waver and start to fall from her seat. Strong arms caught her and then lifted her up. "Sleep, little sister," Hiroshi commanded as he started up the stairs, and she obeyed.

**Hobby**

The Tournament would doubtlessly be intense, lethal, challenging. The opponents would all have their own specialties, talents, abilities. Held in the stadium, hundreds of people would be watching, judging, condemning. One mistake would have the crowd hollering for blood.

Shikamaru and Temari were both powerful opponents in their own right. Regardless of who won that fight, it was unlikely that she would be able to defeat her foe without sufficient preparation and training.

After being a close friend of the Nara's for years, Kasumi knew full well just how intelligent, tricky, and troublesome Shikamaru could be. To date, she still had a mere 10% chance of beating him in shogi when they played. His shadow jutsu were highly versatile and he definitely knew the advantages of paying attention to his surroundings.

Temari of the Desert was an experienced, skilled wind type that would know better than to underestimate Kasumi because she was a kunoichi. She was fast, she was strong, and her wind jutsu were frightening in their force. Wind would be useless against her, as would weapons, as Tenten had proved. She would be a troubling opponent.

By every reasonable right, Kasumi should be training her butt off, going over possible scenarios and strategies, seeking out teachers and mentors for help. Instead...

Sasuke stared at her flatly from his hospital bed. "Is that... a puzzle?"

Seated at a small, fold-up table nearby on a small, fold-up chair, Kasumi taped a finger on the table, eyes narrowed at the half-finished pair-of-swans-floating-on-top-of-a-blue-lake-with-pretty-background in front of her. "Mm-hm. 5,000 pieces, too."

"... Why are you completing a puzzle, Kasumi?" Sasuke sounded a mix between very, very exasperated and very, very confounded. It was a very interesting combination.

She shrugged fluidly. "Why not? I like puzzles."

"Are you even supposed to be here?"

"Visiting hours are between 10 am and 10 pm." Kasumi said easily. "I believe I am well within my rights to be in my teammate's room."

"You came in through the window." He pointed out dryly.

"I'm allowed to take a leaf from Kakashi-sensei's book." She said a little defensively. "Where do you think this goes?" Kasumi held up a small piece of whitish, blackish, grey.

Sasuke squinted at her for a moment, before apparently deciding to just go along with the crazy. Smart guy. "Let me see the cover?""

She held up the cover, a small thing with not nearly enough detail. It did look quite nice, though, which was why she had bought it on a whim.

"Probably near the edge of the pond on the left."

"Thanks. How long are you going to be staying here?"

Sasuke looked disgruntled to her trained Uchiha-sensitive eyes. "The nurses said three days... at the least."

"And then...?"

"... Kakashi said he would take me training."

At that, Kasumi paused for a second, eyes flickering up. Sasuke wasn't looking at her, onyx eyes staring blankly at the wall and fingers plucking almost nervously at his blankets. As far as she remembered, he had never _avoided _her gaze before.

Kasumi leaned back with a sigh, mind whirling. So, Kakashi was leaving with Sasuke. That... that was... not entirely unexpected. She had known that Sasuke would most likely be dragged, if not out of the village, somewhere on the outskirts so as to lessen the danger of the mark.

Speaking of...

"Did you find out what that mark was?" She asked softly.

Sasuke snapped his head back to look at her, hand coming up almost automatically to clutch at his neck. "... Yeah. Kakashi said it was it was a 'Curse Seal'."

Kasumi frowned, trying to recall the art of fuinjutsu. A seal... yes, that would fit. But... "He sealed it away, right?"

"Yeah." He scowled, a storm brewing behind dark, dark eyes. "But he said something about the effectiveness of the seal being dependent of my own willpower or something."

Ah. She hastily suppressed a wince. That... might just be a problem later on, because...

_"Revenge... do you know what they say about revenge, imouto?"_

_"Onii-sama? What's wrong? What's wrong?!"_

_"They say... before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."_

Kasumi swallowed hard. "If Kakashi-sensei is training you, then what about Naruto-san?"

A flicker of unease crossed Sasuke's face. "I think he set him up with a private tutor."

Her sigh this time was deeper, wearier. "I see." And she did see. Despite herself.

Precisely because of who Naruto was, it was easy for Kakashi-sensei to hand him off to someone else, even reluctantly.

Uzumaki Naruto... the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi, Strongest of the Tailed Beasts. Heart of pure gold, grin of sunshine, morals of pure titanium. Naruto wouldn't ever bend in what he believed was right, he was already firmly set in his path, there weren't any problems with potential straying.

Naruto would survive, Kakashi-sensei or not.

Precisely because of who Sasuke was, it was too easy for Kakashi-sensei to focus solely on him, even unknowingly.

Uchiha Sasuke... the Uchiha Heir, user of the infamous red Sharingan. Heart tormented by hate, cynical smirk, temptations lined up like dominoes. Sasuke had the potential for darkness, he had the motive for a fall from grace, there were far too many problems with potential straying.

Sasuke might not be fine without intervention.

And as for her...

"Are you mad?" He questioned softly into the silence. "That Kakashi ditched you?"

Precisely because of who Kasumi was, it was pathetically easy for Kakashi-sensei to simply dismiss her, even contritely.

Fumei Kasumi... survivor of the Bloodline Purge, gifted with the Tentaiora. Heart soft with kindness, smile filled with patience, mind of sharpened steel. Kasumi had tangled with evil in the past, she had come of it with herself intact, there were little problems with potential straying.

Kasumi would be just fine without any help.

She breathed in, exhaled slowly. Sometimes, self-evaluation was a bit more painful than it should be. "No, it's fine." She assured her teammate with a faint smile. "I was planning on asking Onii-san for help anyways."

Sasuke twitched, glimmer of anxiety covered well away. "Hn."

Kasumi giggled, turning to look over her puzzle. "Well, if you're going to be staying here for the next three days, you can help me complete my puzzle."

And just like that, the strain of tension in the air was gone. The look he shot her was impressively deadpan. "And here I thought you were the sane one in our team."

"There is no one sane in our team, Sasuke-san." She said smoothly, shifting her table closer to his bed. "Do stop being delusional."

"I seem to recall you were much more polite before, too."

"Alas, I appear to have gotten used to you and Naruto-san." She held up a piece that was an odd mix of pink, red, and brown. "Ideas?"

Sasuke glared halfheartedly at her. "... Top right."

Kasumi smiled sweetly and pressed the piece into place.

Much, much later, they were nearly done with the puzzle when the door opened, and Kakashi swung in, orange book in hand and an excuse at the tip of his tongue. As it turned out, the latter wasn't immediately necessary, although he was at least two hours late.

He blinked one eye at the cozy scene that greeted at him: Kasumi sat on the foot of Sasuke's bed, legs dangling back and forth casually. Both of them were partially bent over the table pushed right up to the edge of the bed, murmuring to each other in quiet tones about the dozen pieces still littering its smooth surface.

Kasumi glanced up, barely a blink of surprise touching her face before an innocent smile lit up her eyes. "Hello, Kakashi-sensei."

"Hello, Kasumi-chan. I wasn't expecting to see you here." He said with an eye-smile, recovering quickly.

"You're late." Sasuke said bluntly, straightening up.

Ah, there it was. "Well, you see, I ran into an old woman who needed help with her groceries..."

Sasuke snorted in disgust while Kasumi smiled indulgently. Somehow, Kakashi thought that that should have been _his _default expression, but since when had his team been normal?

Since when had his Team been allowed to be normal? Kakashi's grip on his precious book tightened despite himself, and he began to think of ways in which to get his female student out of the room without rousing too much suspicion. Some information was confidential for a reason.

Not even half a beat later, Kasumi slipped gracefully to the ground and tugged out a sealing scroll. With a touch of chakra, she sealed the table and the almost finished puzzle, as well as the chair left abandoned halfway across the room, into the scroll neatly.

"It's almost sunset," She said nonchalantly, heading for the window, "so I'll be leaving now. Good night, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-san."

It was at times like these that Kakashi was, somewhat uncomfortably, reminded how perceptive Kasumi could be. He also wondered how much her reawakened bloodline had enhanced her already honed observation and intuition.

"Of course, Kasumi-chan!" He chirped, eye-smiling brightly. "Good night!"

Sasuke sighed gravely. "You're going to leave me with _him_, Kasumi?"

"Maa, I resent that, Sasuke!"

Kasumi laughed, hand on the window sill. "I'm sure you'll be fine, Sasuke-san. Kakashi-sensei, don't keep him up for too long, will you?"

"Certainly!"

"I'm not a goddamn five year old!"

"Now, Sasuke, language."

Sasuke did his best to kill his sensei through the Uchiha Death Glare alone. Sadly, it didn't work.

**Shogi**

The next day saw Sasuke blinking at a shogi board. After staring at it for a good minute, he glanced up to quirk an eyebrow at the kunoichi sitting - again - on the edge of the foot of his bed, looking as innocent as could be. He had realized That Look was fake five days after officially becoming a member of Team 7.

So had the dobe. It had been a painful realization, as they had been dangling from a tree branch, trussed up like a turkey, and rather nauseous as they had been hanging there for _two hours_. The actions that had led up that particular reprisal had thus become known as The-Wet-Book-Incident-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

"Are you just going to make me play games until I leave the hospital?" He asked incredulously.

She shrugged. "Sure."

"You came in through the window again." Sasuke said suspiciously.

Kasumi blinked, "Is there a problem with that?"

"... You know about the shinobi guarding my door, don't you?" He sweatdropped.

Her smile was dazzling. "No, I didn't know... before now. I just had a feeling I should come in through the window. But now that you've so graciously informed me..."

Sasuke groaned. "Shut up. I'm surprised they haven't come in and kicked you out."

"One of them is probably a Hyuga. He'll recognize me as your teammate."

"And you know that because...?"

"A feeling."

"That's going to get annoying really soon." He noted glumly.

"Probably." She agreed. "Ready to lose?"

Sasuke's shoulders slumped briefly before his competitive nature reared its head. A cool smirk tilted his lips, onyx eyes flashing. "Bring it on."

As it turned out, Kasumi remained the better strategist despite the many, many hours she'd spent hammering in planning skills into her boys' skulls. Still, Sasuke put up a good fight. They were at 8 to 5, in Kasumi's favor, when Kakashi arrived to kick her out.

Granted, not in such unpleasant words or manners. No, no, that wouldn't do at all.

**Majan**

The third day of Sasuke's forced bed rest, Kasumi idly dropped in with a set of majan tiles.

Sasuke wasn't even surprised or confused or disturbed or startled anymore.

Merely exasperated.

He sighed and said, "You do remember you advanced to the Finals, too, right?"

"How could I forget?" Kasumi asked archly, setting up her table and chair.

"If you remember, why are you here with me and not training?" Sasuke demanded, not harshly. For his standards anyways.

"You _are_ my teammate." She said mildly. "And since Naruto-san is off training and Kakashi-sensei is off doing things I'd rather not know, I thought it was my duty to come and keep you company."

"I don't _need_ company." Sasuke snapped, sounding annoyed.

"Of course not." Kasumi soothed calmly, sitting on his bed. "Now, you do know the rules for majan, right?"

Sasuke sighed and resigned himself to playing the game. Sometimes, there was just no use in arguing with Kasumi. A good eight hours later, Kakashi strolled in, not even the slightest surprised to see his female student in the room.

"Kasumi, Sasuke. I see you two are having great fun." He said, nose in his orange book.

Sasuke shot him a glare, frowning at the board. While Kasumi wasn't quite as skilled at majan as she was at shogi, he was still losing, 7 to 4. "No thanks to you."

"Maa, maa, so mean to your sensei, Sasuke! I suppose this means you don't want to learn that super cool jutsu I was planning on teaching you...?"

Sasuke perked up subtly. "What jutsu?"

"Should I leave now?" Kasumi questioned.

Kakashi waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Not at all. Feel free to stay and keep Sasuke from his usual grumpy self."

"I do think that you're overestimating my influence, Kakashi-sensei." She said, an amused smile curving her lips.

"Oi, I'm still here, you know." Sasuke pointed out flatly.

"Oh, we know." Kakashi assured him, leaning against the wall. "Kasumi-chan, your brother told me he was going to train you...?"

"He will." She replied. "Don't worry about me, Kakashi-sensei."

"In that case, Sasuke, I expect to see you at our agreed location tomorrow at noon."

"Hn."

"... I feel like I shouldn't be leaving Sasuke-san in your sole hands for a month..." Kasumi pondered absently.

"You're right." Sasuke deadpanned. "Kakashi, tell her where we're meeting."

"Maa... I think I should be insulted by your lack of faith in me." Kakashi paused for a moment, before adding cheerfully, "But I'm not."

"... We're going to be meeting by a cliff at the far northwest of Konoha." Sasuke told Kasumi directly. "Don't you dare leave me with _him_."

"Okay, I'm insulted now." Kakashi claimed with an eye-smile, still staring straight at his orange book.

"You'll live." Sasuke smirked.

Kasumi shook her head and laughed. "Alright, I guess I can come and visit after a week or so."

"You'd better."

**Bloodline**

"Onii-san." Kasumi said the next morning, folding her hands together at the breakfast table. "I think it's time you explain our bloodline to me better."

Hiroshi briefly looked surprised before he sighed in resignation and turned off the stove. The barely-cooked bacon was left to sit in the pan while Hiroshi took the seat across from Kasumi, brown eyes serious. "Yeah. I think so, too."

She waited patiently. The secrets of the Fumei Clan were great and varied, most of them connected to the Tentaiora. Kasumi herself knew few of them, but then, she had been a child when practically everything had imploded.

"The Tentaiora..." Hiroshi started slowly, "... is a type of chakra. I take it that you've noticed already?"

"Hai. It's not like normal chakra though."

"No." He shook his head, frowning slightly. "It's... a form of natural energy."

Kasumi blinked. "I've never heard of that before." Which... for her, was somewhat rare. "What is it?"

"It's not surprising that you've never come across it. Natural energy isn't something that most people know about." He told her. "It's defined as energy that can be collected from the atmosphere and terrain."

"Can normal shinobi use it?"

"No. Only special people can; they are known as sages. Senjutsu is what they use: the using and sensing of natural energy. They draw and mix their natural energy with their chakra to form senjutsu chakra. But that isn't what we do."

"Then what _do_ we do?" She asked.

"The Tentaiora is natural energy, but it's a special kind in that it isn't primarily composed of _this_ world's natural energy." Hiroshi said grimly.

Kasumi's eyes widened, gasping sharply in understanding. "You mean..." This was beyond what most people knew of reality.

"Are you familiar with the multiverse theory?" He asked, in an apparent non sequitur.

"Of course." She said automatically. "In its most basic aspect, it dictates that numberless universes exist, and the one that we inhabit is simply one among many."

Hiroshi nodded. "Yes. The Tentaiora is, to keep things simple, the unified, densely compressed natural energy of countless universes' natural energy. Okaa-san was fond of calling it dimension energy."

Kasumi was speechless for a long stretch of time, mouth hanging open slightly as her mind tried to comprehend that. Damn... how - what - where - "How..."

"We don't know." He said, shrugging carelessly. "There aren't any records on where our bloodline came from."

She shook her head, tugging at a strand of her hair. _Kami-sama. _She had never thought, expected this... there was potential. So _much_ potential, she could almost see why Kiri had decided to off them. But...

"How are we not insane?" Kasumi whispered, hand coming to rest above her heart, where a ball of amber chakra hummed. Such power... was not one that mortals should wield.

Hiroshi's brow furrowed. "A lot of it is subconscious, Kasumi-chan. A trace amount of your Tentaiora is always being mixed with your chakra, so heavily diluted it's not dangerous. That's why you can sense danger no matter what."

"However, when you do draw on it directly... well, it isn't going to be pretty. There's a reason we warned you not to go too far. Small amounts are really all we're ever going to use safely." He smiled wryly.

Kasumi sighed, leaned back in her seat. Natural chakra... dimensional chakra. Yes, that was certainly dangerous stuff; she didn't have any plans to overstretch herself anytime soon. And yet...

"How does it _work_?" She asked, quietly frustrated. "This chakra that we have... why does it do what it does?" How did that contribute to that little voice in her head that told her when danger was coming, that a storm was on the horizon; _how_?!

Complex, almost uncomprehending questions, but her brother understood what she meant.

Hiroshi grinned, reaching out a hand to mess up her hair. "So analytical, imouto. I think that's enough explanations for today, alright? We'll talk about this more later."

Kasumi frowned, hesitated, but let the matter go. She trusted her brother's judgement, and this... this wasn't something she should mess with, no matter her curiosity. She had grown up hearing horror tales of those that hadn't heeded the warnings, after all.

"Okay. But you will tell me more later?" Her smile was quiet but insistent.

He chucked indulgently. "Of course! Later. Now, why don't you finish breakfast and practice your water jutsu? I'll watch over you!"

Kasumi sighed and took a bite of her omelet. Ah, this would be a long month.


	33. Sage

**Me: I do not own Naruto! By the way, just a heads-up, we're nearing the end of my already-written chapters, so this fic is going to be coming to a close soon. Sorry! *runs and hides away, ashamed of lack of muse***

* * *

**Sage**

Two days later, Kasumi hopped along the rooftops of Konoha, mind on the water jutsu her brother had showed her not long ago. It wasn't very hard to learn... but to use it effectively... yes, that was the problem.

"Kasumi-chan!"

Halting automatically on a building close to the Hokage's Office, Kasumi blinked, turning around to see a black and orange blur land in front of her before stopping to show her blonde teammate.

Naruto grinned at her, cerulean blue eyes glowing as he ran forward to envelop her in a tight hug. "Kasumi-chan, I haven't seen you for such a long time!"

Kasumi smiled sweetly, hugging him back. "Naruto-san. It has been a while, hasn't it? You look well."

He pulled back, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah! Hey... Kakashi-sensei's training the teme, but you have a teacher... right?" Naruto's gaze was worried, his brow creased slightly.

She smiled soothingly, "Of course. Onii-san is training me."

"Oh!" He perked up, relaxing. "That guy's strong; I'm sure he'll make you even more awesome in no time, Kasumi-chan!"

Kasumi laughed softly, brown eyes fond. She hadn't realized how much she had missed Naruto's boundless energy and enthusiasm, but she had. "Maybe. Who are you training with? Kakashi-sensei said he found you a private tutor."

Naruto pouted, scuffling his boots against the roof tiles. "Yeah, but that closet pervert was no help. At all."

"No?"

"Nope! He just tried to teach me water walking, but I already know all that stuff, so then I told him to teach me a super, awesome jutsu! Except he started prattling on about something I didn't pay attention to, and the next thing I know, the super pervert knocks him out!"

"Super pervert...?" Kasumi raised an eyebrow. Why was it that Naruto always attracted the strangest people?

"Yeah!" Naruto scowled for a second before brightening up. "But he's cool! He had me sign this summon scroll thing and now I'm learning how to summon toads!" He dimmed down again. "Although I'm not having much luck..."

She laughed softly, gently rustling his hair with her hand. "Well, I'm sure you'll get it soon. Who's this teacher of yours again?"

He smiled tentatively at her supportive words before adopting a thinking stance. "Hmm... he said something about that but I wasn't paying much attention. Like... Jikaya? No, Jiraba? Nah... Jirasa, Jiraia, Jiraiye...?"

Kasumi frowned thoughtfully. Toads... Orochimaru... Jiraiy - "Jiraiya?" She asked, eyes widening. Holy Kami-sama. Naruto really did have the oddest luck. But, honestly, another one of the Legendary Sannin right after Orochimaru?!

"Yeah!" Naruto snapped his fingers, grinning in triumph. "That's it! Mountain Something's Holy Master Sage, blah, blah, Toad Sage!"

Sage. Hadn't Hiroshi-onii-san said a sage was someone who could use natural energy? Logically, such a person would know a great deal about it and...

"... Naruto-san, you do realize that a sage, much less a sannin, is a very powerful shinobi, right?" Recovering quickly, she shook her head, smiling in exasperation while expertly covering up the thoughts spinning in her mind.

"Eeh?!" Apparently not. "That super pervert is strong?" Naruto furrowed his brow, tapping his chin. "Well, he did take that weird seal off of me?"

Kasumi snapped to attention. "Weird seal?"

"Yeah." He shrugged in faux casualness, staring at the tiles beneath his feet. "The one that the creepy snake person put on me, remember?"

"... Yeah." She smiled as if nothing was wrong. They would have to talk about the Kyubi someday, but maybe now wasn't the best time. Sasuke wasn't even here, anyways. "Neh, why don't you take me with you to meet with your new teacher? I might be able to help you with your summoning."

Naruto grinned openly, previous distress vanishing easily. "Really, Kasumi-chan?! That's be great! Come on, this way!"

**Jiraiya**

Kasumi blinked up at the white-haired, very tall shinobi that stood in front of her. Well. He was eccentric to say the least.

Jiraiya stared down at her, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Who's this, brat? Your girlfriend?" He questioned Naruto.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Course not, pervy sage! Kasumi-chan's my teammate! Ah, and don't even think of perving on her!" Naruto pushed Kasumi behind him protectively, giving Jiraiya a firm glare.

"Humph. Show some more respect, brat!" Jiraiya barked. "Besides, she's not my type. Too young."

A-Ah. Kasumi sweatdropped. Eccentric, indeed. Then again, from what she had heard, all of the Legendary Sannin were.

There was Orochimaru, who had defected, was utterly immoral and rather brilliant if not despicable in his ways of expressing that brilliance.

There was Tsunade, who had left, was the best medic in the world and ran around said world gambling and drinking without actually healing.

There was Jiraiya, who was constantly out of the village, was terribly perverted and wrote porn disguised as orange books for other perverts.

They were some of the most powerful shinobi in the world.

But the more that Kasumi saw of the upper echelons of the shinobi ranks, the more convinced she became of the old idea that the more powerful you got, the stranger you got. Kakashi-sensei was her first proof... then came Zabuza, Gai... she shuddered a little.

"Whatever." Naruto huffed, crossing his arms and turning to his quiet teammate. "Kasumi-chan, you said you could probably help with my training, right?"

"... Right." Kasumi managed a faint smile, forcibly wrenching her attention away from the Sannin. She knew where he was now - peeping at the women's hot springs; she made a note to never, ever go there - so she would get her answers nonetheless. "Show me what you're doing?"

"Here!" Naruto led her away from the thin screen that separated the women's bath from the private pool. Biting his thumb, he swiped a line of blood across his palm, smacked his palm on the ground, and shouted, "Summoning Jutsu!"

There was a brief spread of black lines across the rough stones and then a poof of smoke. When it cleared, Kasumi found herself looking at a small tadpole wiggling on the pebbles. "See?" Naruto grinned foxily. "Cool, right?"

"That's still the best thing you can do, you moron?!" Jiraiya yelled at Naruto, clearly not at all impressed. "You've already been working on it for a week! I told you, release all the chakra in your body like you're about to die!"

'That's a strange way of thinking about it...' Kasumi thought to herself with a sweatdrop.

"Shut up, geez! I'm trying my best!" Naruto yelled back, irritated.

They snarled at each other for a moment longer before Jiraiya snorted and turned towards the wooden screen. "Keep trying, brat! I'm going to do some more research!"

"More like peeping." Naruto muttered.

"It's research! Research!"

Kasumi thought about asking and then decided it probably wouldn't be very good for her mental peace. She kept quiet on that matter, and turned to Naruto who was grumbling under his breath. "Alright, so you need a massive output of chakra to your hand, right?"

"Yeah." Naruto sighed, making a visible effort to calm down.

"Well, then, why don't you try some exercises for that first?" She suggested reasonably. "Instead of attempting the jutsu over and over again with the same results, improve upon what you need to improve on."

Naruto frowned at the prospect of yet more exercises, but went along with it. Everything that Kasumi had made Team 7 do had benefited them, to some degree or another. "What do you think I should do?"

"Hmm... do you remember the Leaf Concentration Exercise?" He wasn't lacking in _chakra_; that had never been what Naruto was lacking in. No, it looked like while Naruto could build up the chakra just fine, he couldn't channel it to his hand very well.

"Yeah!" He grinned, slamming a fist into his palm. "It was when we tried to get a leaf to stick to our forehead, right?"

"Right." Personally, Kasumi had possessed little to no problem completing the exercise, but then again, by that time she had been practicing medical ninjutsu. "Why don't you a variation of that?"

"What do you mean?" He cocked his head to the side, cerulean blue eyes inquisitive.

"Here." Picking up a nearby pebble, Kasumi concentrated on her chakra on her palm and _pushed_. Slowly, painstakingly, the pebble rose in the air, hovering above her hand.

"Cool!" Naruto's face lit up, an excited grin stretching across his face. "How'd you do that, Kasumi-chan?!"

"Well, the Leaf Concentration Exercise involved us focusing our chakra to our forehead, and then into the leaf, and that's what kept it there, right? What I'm doing right now is focusing my chakra to my hand and then forcing that chakra out to push against the pebble. It requires a bit more concentration and chakra control, which is what I think you need at this point."

"So I should just practice that?" He picked up a pebble, tossing it up and down.

"Start with pebbles. And then gradually get bigger." Kasumi advised. "You have the Shadow Clone Jutsu; you may as well use it."

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto snapped his fingers into the standard seal, chakra flaring, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A cloud of smoke covered the small area, quickly dispelling to reveal the customary dozen of clones.

"Let's go, guys!" The original yelled at them, "You know what to do!"

"YOSH!"

"Brat, keep quiet back there!' Jiraiya shouted from the wall that separated the women's hot springs and them.

"Shut up, pervy sage!" Naruto huffed, shaking his head before turning to Kasumi with a thumbs-up, "Thanks, Kasumi-chan!"

"You're very welcome," She smiled, gaze flickering to the Sannin, "You stay here and practice, alright? I want to talk to your teacher for a bit?"

"Eeh, pervy sage?" He frowned, scratching the back of his neck in confusion. But Naruto, bless his heart, didn't push, "Okay, but be careful, yeah? He's a total pervert."

"Got it." Making her way to Jiraiya, Kasumi folded her hands in front of her, but before she could say anything, he spoke up.

"What do you want, little girl? I'm telling you, you're not my type. I don't want another student either, so go ahead and run off now." He didn't even look up from his peephole as he waved a hand dismissively.

She stared at him contemplatively, not at all insulted or scared off. Hmm... the Sannin was the hardest person she had ever had to pin down, clad in so many layers that shifted and churned without warning. It would be so easy to judge this man as the lecherous pervert that was first impression and just leave it at that.

There was, well... he wasn't playing the least ounce of attention to her. It was strange, for someone utterly resistant to the idea of teaching, he had gone to the trouble of taking Naruto on as a student. She had no idea why, but her blonde teammate was remarkable in many different ways and fashions so she doubted she would find out.

But now... she needed a method to grab the Toad Sage's attention, grab it so absolutely and irrevocably that he wouldn't be able to brush her off without first listening to what she had to say. Not easy for a genin, but maybe...

"Would you explain nature chakra to me, Jiraiya-sama?" Kasumi inquired politely.

Jiraiya went very, very still, a silent reminder that this was a predator she was provoking, a ninja who could crush her with his pinkie finger. He took a step back, head swiveling around to pin her to the spot with dark, shrewd eyes. "Nature chakra? That's not something little girls should play with."

Again, she was being warned. First Hiroshi and then Jiraiya; yes, Kasumi was getting the message that this was dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. But ignorance had never worked to her advantage before. "I know." She hesitated as she debated her next step. Evidently, while her brother knew about it, he didn't know _much._

Which could turn into a big problem in time. However, the Tentaiora was a secret bloodline for a reason, its mysteries hidden from the rest of the world for decades. Even in the Clan, it had been the humongous pink elephant in the middle of the room. It was the unspoken rule never to talk about their bloodline in the open.

Kasumi didn't know Jiraiya. She had only met him today; he was a stranger as far as she was concerned. But he was a Konoha Sannin, well known as the only one that remained loyal to the Leaf Village. Plus, it was essential that she know whatever information he might give her. It could prove highly important in the future and staying in the dark in regards to her own powers...

It didn't bode well.

"You know my last name." She said, because there was no possible way that he didn't. Kasumi wasn't fully aware of the role that Jiraiya played in Konoha security, but any good ninja did research and he _was _training Naruto. Besides, he obviously had the security clearance.

A leap of faith centered on Naruto. Kasumi hoped she wouldn't regret it.

**Natural**

"Ah." Jiraiya paused, a new-found wariness in his veins. Bloodline traits were nothing to mess around with and with one of the last few bearers of the Tentaiora asking such questions, it was easy to connect the dots. He sighed, how had he gotten suckered into this again? But he hadn't lied; nature chakra wasn't anything children should be playing around with.

He couldn't just leave this little girl with wide brown eyes far older than they should be fumbling around in the dark. Hell, bloodline or not, his godson would be devastated if something happened to his female teammate; it was apparent that he was close with her, not in a romantic manner as he had suggested, but close nonetheless. Jiraiya didn't need any more guilt on his shoulders.

"Look." He sighed, turning away from the temptation of the hot springs completely to crouch down in front of Fumei Kasumi. It didn't look like he was going to get out of this one any time soon. "Nature chakra is energy that is inherent in this world. It's in the air you breathe, the ground you walk on, the very world that you live in."

"It's everywhere?" She asked, voice soft and deferential. It was a good front and maybe he would have believed it, but he had already seen the cool calculation in those eyes, the razor sharp intellect that had characterized her interactions with both him and his new student. It was a toss-up of whether the little kunoichi honestly felt respect for him, but she was certainly not above using it to get what she wanted.

Which Jiraiya could grudgingly appreciate, especially in one so young. She could make a nice spy, this girl. Too young, but he might put in a word to the Sandaime later. "Yeah. Everywhere, everything. To use nature chakra, you have to be in harmony with the flow of the world. Not easy, understand? Bloodline or not, don't go messing with nature chakra if you don't know how to use it. Might turn you into a stone statue."

A pretty stone statue, but still, you know, a statue.

Statues didn't help anyone; Jiraiya would know.

She blinked, apparently ready for anything but that. "A stone statue?"

"Mm-hm." Never something fun. Or, in his case, grow warts and emit toad-like features. Not really fun either, but such was the way of shinobi. Few things were fun.

"Sages... they have something to do with nature chakra, too, right?"

Jeez, where the hell was she getting this information? "Girl, are you sure you want to know about this?" Jiraiya asked incredulously. This was no genin material.

The little kunoichi didn't waver, "I don't want to get turned into a stone statue, Jiraiya-sama."

"Fine, I'll give you that." He didn't want her to get turned into a stone statue either. They tended not to turn back. "Alright, sages are those who can utilize senjutsu, a technique where the user gathers and mixes nature chakra with their natural chakra. That's all ya need to know, don't ask me anything more on it, little girl." There was only so far he was willing to go for his godson's teammate.

She looked thoughtful, "Can this senjutsu allow sages to sense upcoming threats or enemies?"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, frowning. The hell? Was the little kunoichi able to do something like that? For all his efforts, he had never been able to gather so much as a whisper on the true power of the Tentaiora; the destruction that Kirigakure had wrought had assuredly not helped. "... Yeah. A sage can sense chakra around them and sense attacks without having to look."

"I see." Kasumi smiled vaguely and bowed, "Thank you for your help, Jiraya-sama." Without waiting for a response, she glided away, a child of the mist in a crowd of leaves. Jiraiya watched her go, frown deepening.

For Naruto's sake, that little Fumei girl should definitely be careful with how she pushed her bloodline, lest it turn against her.

The power of Nature itself was nothing to be trifled with.

**Cliff**

Three days later, Kasumi peered up at the massive cliff that faced her, carrying a small backpack. Well... Kakashi-sensei had certainly gone all out, she thought to herself wryly. It was highly unlikely that any civilian would have reason to be this far out, much less be able to climb such a rock face.

As for shinobi, the land here was remarkably barren. It would be easy to see any incoming enemies and react accordingly before they were so much as two feet up. As it was, she had no doubts that Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke already knew of her presence.

Not that they would come and greet her, of course.

Taking a step back, she place a hand on her hip and considered her options. She was obviously expected to climb this cliff on her own, or otherwise find some way to get to the top. Kasumi could climb it without chakra, an exercise in stamina and endurance, or with chakra, a chakra control excerise, or with kunai, an exercise in strength and precision.

Not the question was: which one did she require the most?

After musing it over, Kasumi decided to just climb the damn thing without the aid of anything but her hands and feet. She might as well work on endurance since she was potentially going against Shikamaru or Temari. Her chakra had been depleted by her morning training with Hiroshi, and her skill with kunai was fine. For now, at least. It was all about priorities at this point.

Reaching up, she grasped a section of rock and hauled herself up. Glancing at the distant top, she mentally measured the distance and sighed. This would take a while.

**Hand**

Some time later, Kasumi looked up again and noted the dark silhouette standing not far away. She reached for another hand hold, pushing forward with her right foot, and kept on climbing. One foot, two feet, five feet -

A pale hand offered itself to her.

Humming to herself, Kasumi reached up with a hand while her other hand hugged the rock and grabbed his hand. Sasuke hauled her up to the very top of the cliff with a faint smirk, taking in her exhausted, sweaty, panting state with amusement.

"You took your time." He said coolly, looking irritatingly refreshed and clean and relaxed.

She blew out a breath, slinging off her backpack and letting it fall to the ground with a thump. "Hello to you, too, Sasuke-san." Kasumi said dryly, feeling her muscles scream with relief. She really did need to work on her endurance, she thought to herself with an inward grimace. Good thing she was duty-bound to visit Sasuke every other three or four days.

Ugh. More climbing later. Wasn't that a nice thought?

"Kasumi-chan, we were wondering when you would get here." Kakashi-sensei greeted from where he was sitting on a rough boulder, orange book in hand. He looked up to eye-smile at her, "Well, Sasuke was wondering when you would get here."

Said boy glared darkly and folded his arms pointedly, but didn't refute his words.

Kasumi yawned, really too tired to care about what their sensei was trying to imply, "Hello, Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke-san, where's your sleeping bag?" She hadn't bought hers, an oversight she would correct last time. She had been too busy thinking about... stuff today to remember.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her but pointed behind her, where a lone tree that looked like it was going to die any day soon provided a fraction of shade that shielded his cot.

"I'm borrowing it." She declared.

Kakashi-sensei chuckled quietly while Sasuke's eye twitched, "You're just going to steal my sleeping bag?"

Kasumi gestured fleetingly at her backpack, "Food."

"Go ahead." He said off-handedly, dropping to his knees beside the backpack and snapping it open to flip through its contents. Evidently, Sasuke had grown very tired of shinobi rations.

Smiling weakly, Kasumi slipped into the bag and closed her eyes. It smelled familiar, like thunderstorms and mint. Sighing deeply as her exhaustion finally caught up with her, both chakra and physically, she fell asleep to the reassuring presences of Kakashi and Sasuke.


End file.
